Truth, Sentencing and Punishment

Questions of fact remain vital after a determination or admission of guilt. An initial task is to decide precisely what the offender has admitted to? ‘Negotiated justice’ may be a more explicit process in other jurisdiction, but serious charges are sometimes dropped in England and Wales where a willingness to admit guilt to a lesser charge is made known. This has the effect of distorting the reality of the event by minimising its seriousness. English law (generally) requires proportionality between the seriousness of the offence and the resultant punishment. Misrepresenting the truth of the criminal event leads to an unmerited punishment. Sentencers in England and Wales must follow sentencing guidelines which specify factors of relevance. The Chapter concludes with an assessment of how this process prescribes factual relevance at the sentencing stage.