The boon of published sentencing remarks

15th December 2021

One good thing for the public understanding of the law that has come from the internet is the publication of ‘Sentencing Remarks’.

These are not judgments – at least in a legally technical sense – but explanations by a judge about how they gone around setting the sentence of someone guilty of an offence.

Today there are two sets of sentencing remarks about highly unpleasant and disturbing cases (both of must have a content warning).

Some may want to read them for their grisly detail.

However the rest of us – especially students of law and others with an interest in the legal system – will be able to gain fascinating and detailed insights into investigations, prosecutions and sentencing.

In the olden days, these remarks were never normally available – one would have to rely on any news reporters in court, and one would then have to depend upon on the edited (and editorialised) news reports.

Now, you can read the judge’s words for yourself – and form your own view.

You may still think after reading remarks that a sentence is too low or too high – but you will at least be able to inform your view with how the sentence has been arrived at.

The best way to keep up is to follow the England and Wales judiciary’s Twitter account or to visit their site from time to time.

The regular publication of these remarks will not, by themselves, cure the promotion of misinformation about law generally and high-profile cases in particular.

But the more they become part of the normal information openly available about cases and the criminal law in the news, the better the general knowledge of the criminal justice system.

They are a boon to the public understanding of law.

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