Office of the Leader of the House of Commons

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act

Key Benefits The Bill will take forward the Government's criminal justice agenda by reducing re-offending, protecting the public, promoting justice, improving access to justice and increasing confidence in the justice system. Building public confidence in the sentencing framework by imprisoning serious and dangerous offenders while others receive rigorous and effective community sentences; Ensuring that prison and probation resources are targeted at repeat, serious and violent offenders; Strengthening the pre-court and community penalties available for young offenders so that, wherever possible, offending by children and young persons is effectively addressed without the need to resort to custody; Ensuring that the police and their community safety partners have appropriate powers to tackle anti-social behaviour at its roots and thereby reinforce a culture of respect; and Ensuring that the UK does not provide a safe haven for foreign criminals and terrorists and sending a clear signal that such people cannot expect to secure a settled status in this country. Violent Offender Orders, which will allow courts to impose post-sentence restrictions on those convicted of violent offences, e.g. residence or movement restrictions; Combating hate crime by introducing a new offence of inciting homophobic hatred. Ending automatic sentence discounts for offenders re-sentenced to an indeterminate sentence after initial sentencing decision ruled unduly lenient, and powers for Courts to make dangerous offenders given a discretionary life sentence serve a higher proportion of their tariff before eligible for parole consideration; Banning the possession of extreme pornographic images which is now easily available on the internet and beyond the reach of the Obscene Publications Act; Extension of existing crack house closure powers to tackle premises at the centre of serious and persistent disorder or nuisance, regardless of tenure, and new powers to deal with nuisance or disturbance on NHS premises; A new special immigration status for terrorists and serious criminals who cannot currently be removed from the UK for legal reasons; and Removing the power to impose Suspended Sentence Orders for summary only offences and providing for non-dangerous offenders who breach the terms of their licence to be recalled to prison for a fixed 28 day period.

Act of Parliament

Explanatory Notes

Territorial Extent
United Kingdom
Theme
Economic Stability

The Bill's provisions mainly extend to England and Wales, with certain provisions also extending to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Additional Information

We intend, subject to the outcome of the current review, to bring forward amendments to change the law on the use of self-defence to ensure that people who act with reasonable force to protect themselves and others, and their property, are fully protected under the law.

Related Documents

Many of the provisions in the Bill have been set out in policy papers or have been the subject of consultations, including:

'Rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the law-abiding majority', Home Office, July 2006
'Penal Policy - a background paper', Ministry of Justice, May 2007

Existing Legislation

The Bill reforms the existing sentencing framework set out in the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Comments

If you have any comments on the Bill you can email them to:

charles.goldie@justice.gsi.gov.uk