We use some essential cookies to make this website work.
We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services.
We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services.
You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.
You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.
Departments, agencies and public bodies
News stories, speeches, letters and notices
Detailed guidance, regulations and rules
Reports, analysis and official statistics
Consultations and strategy
Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports
If you are found guilty of a crime, your sentence will depend on a number of factors, including the type, seriousness and circumstances of the crime.
The range of prison sentences a court can give - including suspended, fixed-term, indeterminate and life sentences.
If you’re sent to prison for 2 or more crimes, you’ll usually get a…
A suspended prison sentence is served in the community instead of in…
A determinate prison sentence is for a fixed length of time. It includes a…
An indeterminate prison sentence does not have a fixed length of time.…
If you’re found guilty of murder, a court must give you a life sentence. A…
If you’re under 18 you’ll be treated differently to adults by a court. You…
What happens if you're given a community sentence or community service. Find out about Community Payback and the rules of your community sentence.
You may get a community sentence if you’re convicted of a crime by a court…
Community Payback is unpaid work like: removing graffiti clearing…
The treatment or programmes you get are intended to help with problems…
What you can and cannot do while on a community sentence is decided by: a…
Community sentences for young people are different from those given to…
This White Paper sets out the government’s proposals for important changes to the sentencing and release framework in England and Wales.
The latest versions of the Criminal Procedure Rules and of the Criminal Practice Directions made by the Lord Chief Justice.
The government has introduced the Sentencing Bill into Parliament.
Includes being charged with a crime, cautions, community sentences and police powers
A violent thug who murdered a man and raped two women as part of a ferocious four-day crime spree has had his sentence increased after it was referred to the Court of Appeal.
The Sentencing Council (SC) for England and Wales promotes greater consistency in sentencing while maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The Council produces guidelines on sentencing for the judiciary and aims to increase public understanding of sentencing. SC is an...
Guidelines on the acceptance of pleas and the prosecutor's role in the sentencing exercise (revised 2009).
An outline of the parole process
The different types of court - magistrates' court, Crown Court and youth court - the crimes they deal with and the level of sentences they can give.
Providing more detail on the knife and offensive weapon sentencing statistics presented in the knife and offensive weapon sentencing statistics publications.
Guidance on broadcasting sentencing hearings by the media and the Crown court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020.
Cowards who kill their partners with sexual violence will face longer behind bars as the government continues to clamp down on domestic abuse against women.
Guidance for calculating the release dates of determinate sentences imposed by the courts.
How to complain to the Attorney General's Office if you think someone's sentence is too low - and what happens if the Court of Appeal get involved
The ‘You be the Judge’ (YBTJ) website aims to show how judges and magistrates decide on the sentences they pass.
A table of rehabilitation periods for the most common sentences and disposals, and example scenarios.
Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.
To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. We’ll send you a link to a feedback form. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. Don’t worry we won’t send you spam or share your email address with anyone.