Sentencing Council for England and Wales

What Sentencing Council for England and Wales does

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is an independent, non-departmental public body established by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 and brought into being on 6 April 2010, succeeding the previous Sentencing Guidelines Council and Sentencing Advisory Panel. It is part of the Ministry of Justice family of arm's-length bodies, funded by the Ministry and accountable to Parliament. Its statutory function is to develop and publish definitive sentencing guidelines for all courts in England and Wales; courts must follow these guidelines unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so. Core outputs comprise Magistrates' Court and Crown Court guidelines, plus digital tools (drink-driving calculator, fine calculator, guilty plea calculators in days/weeks and months/years, a pronouncement builder co-developed with the Judicial College, Sentencing ACE, and an offline iPad app) and the "You be the Judge" public engagement platform supported by the Judiciary of England and Wales. The Council also produces research reports, guideline evaluations, and statistical summaries, with all content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The Council operates with approximately 5 employees based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London and is led by a chair (currently Mrs Justice Juliet May, appointed October 2025) and vice chair (Lord Justice Andrew Edis, appointed August 2025), alongside judicial and non-judicial members appointed by the Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor. Its users are not commercial customers but rather judges and magistrates, criminal justice professionals, members of the public, researchers and academics, and the media; the Council engages them through public consultations, seminars co-hosted with the Sentencing Academy and The City Law School, press releases, the official website (sentencingcouncil.org.uk), email updates, and educational resources. Revenue model is wholly non-commercial: the body is publicly funded, charges no fees for its guidelines or tools, and has no parent equity structure beyond its Ministry of Justice oversight relationship.

Name

Sentencing Council for England and Wales

Legal name

Sentencing Council for England and Wales

Website

https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is an independent, Ministry of Justice-funded public body that develops statutory sentencing guidelines, digital calculators, and public engagement tools for courts across England and Wales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Judicial Sentencing Guidelines

NAICS

Courts (92211), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (9221)

akta.pro primary industry

Judicial Oversight, Sentencing & Parole Boards (BPAIAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Judicial Courts & Court Administration (BPAIAFAA)

Keywords

• Sentencing guidelines
• Criminal justice policy
• Judicial guidance
• Court sentencing tools
• Criminal courts

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding: The Sentencing Council is funded by the Ministry of Justice as an arm's-length body. It does not generate commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Sentencing Council develops, publishes, and maintains definitive sentencing guidelines for all criminal courts in England and Wales, covering both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court. It supplements these guidelines with a suite of free digital tools (calculators, the Pronouncement Builder, Sentencing ACE) and the interactive 'You be the Judge' public engagement platform, ensuring that courts apply consistent, proportionate sentences while supporting public understanding of sentencing.

Product overview

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is an independent public body that develops and publishes sentencing guidelines for courts in England and Wales. The core offering consists of definitive sentencing guidelines covering offences in both Magistrates' Courts and Crown Courts, supplemented by digital tools including calculators (drink-driving, fine, guilty plea), the Pronouncement Builder for magistrates, and Sentencing ACE. The Council also provides the interactive public engagement platform 'You be the Judge' for public education, along with offline access via iPad app. All sentencing guidelines must be followed by courts unless contrary to the interests of justice.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• You be the Judge: An interactive platform created by the Sentencing Council, and supported by the Judiciary of England and Wales, that allows the public to put themselves in the judge's or magistrates' chair to make decisions based on real-life cases and decide what the sentence should be.

Products and services

• Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines Definitive sentencing guidelines for offences heard in magistrates' courts in England and Wales, providing offence-specific guidance with culpability factors, harm categories, starting points, and sentence ranges. Used by magistrates and judges when sentencing less serious criminal cases.
• Crown Court Sentencing Guidelines (Online) Definitive sentencing guidelines for indictable offences heard in the Crown Court, providing comprehensive sentencing guidance for the full range of serious criminal cases. Used by Crown Court judges and legal practitioners.
• Drink-driving Calculator Online calculator that assists in determining sentences for drink-driving offences. Used by magistrates, judges, and legal practitioners handling drink-driving cases.
• Fine Calculator Online tool to calculate appropriate fine levels based on offender income and offence seriousness. Used by magistrates and judges when setting fines.
• Guilty Plea Calculator (Days/Weeks) Online calculator to determine sentencing reductions for guilty pleas in cases sentenced in days or weeks. Used by magistrates and judges handling summary offences.
• Guilty Plea Calculator (Months/Years) Online calculator to determine sentencing reductions for guilty pleas in cases sentenced in months or years. Used by Crown Court judges and legal practitioners in indictable cases.
• Pronouncement Builder Digital tool for magistrates' courts to build sentence pronouncements, developed in partnership with the Judicial College. Used by magistrates when announcing sentences in court.
• Sentencing ACE Digital sentencing tool providing guidance and decision support for courts when applying sentencing guidelines. Used by judges and magistrates in court proceedings.
• You be the Judge Interactive educational website that allows members of the public to experience making sentencing decisions based on real-life cases. Used by the general public, students, and educators to improve understanding of the sentencing process.
• Sentencing Code Consolidated sentencing procedure law in a single Act, in force from 1 December 2020 in England and Wales. Used by judges, magistrates, and criminal justice professionals as a primary statutory reference for sentencing procedure.
• Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines (Offline iPad App) Offline version of the Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines available as a free iPad application for use when wifi is unavailable in court. Used by magistrates and judges in courtrooms.
• Bench Books and Compendium Reference materials for judicial professionals containing sentencing guidance and case compendiums. Used by judges and magistrates as authoritative reference resources in court.

Quantifiable outcome

• Guidelines must be followed by courts unless contrary to interests of justice, ensuring consistent sentencing practice

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and minor.

• Ministry of JusticecoreOthersThe Sentencing Council is part of the Ministry of Justice family of arm's-length bodies. The Council is accountable to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice as accounting officer, and to Ministers for how public funds are used.
• Judiciary of England and WalescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe 'You be the Judge' interactive platform was created by the Sentencing Council and supported by the Judiciary of England and Wales to help improve public understanding of sentencing.
• Judicial CollegesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Sentencing Council worked in partnership with the Judicial College to develop the pronouncement-card builder tool for magistrates' courts.
• Sentencing AcademysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Sentencing Council co-hosted sentencing seminars with the Sentencing Academy and The City Law School to explore perspectives on sentencing and current sentencing-related issues.
• The City Law School, City, University of LondonsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint seminars with The City Law School on sentencing policy and research topics.
• GOV.UKminorOthersThe Sentencing Council website links to GOV.UK as part of the government family of websites.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Judicial College: The Judicial College is an arm's-length body that provides training and continuing judicial education for the judiciary of England and Wales. It partners with the Sentencing Council on tools such as the pronouncement builder and serves an overlapping judicial user base, making it a closely related institutional peer.
• Judiciary of England and Wales: The collective body of judges who apply the Sentencing Council's guidelines. It partners with the Council on the 'You be the Judge' platform and represents the primary consumer of the Council's products, making it a closely related institutional actor in the sentencing ecosystem.
• Crown Prosecution Service: The principal prosecuting authority for England and Wales, operating as an arm's-length body of the Ministry of Justice. While its remit is prosecution rather than guideline-setting, it operates as a primary user of sentencing guidelines and shares the same institutional framework and accountability structure.
• HM Courts and Tribunals Service: An executive agency of the Ministry of Justice responsible for the administration of courts in England and Wales. It is the operational arm that applies the Sentencing Council's guidelines in practice, sharing accountability structures and serving the same judicial user base.
• Law Commission: An independent statutory body that reviews and recommends reform of England and Wales law. While not focused on sentencing, it shares the same arm's-length public body structure, statutory remit, evidence-based methodology, and Ministry of Justice accountability framework as the Sentencing Council.
• Criminal Cases Review Commission: An independent body that investigates suspected miscarriages of justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It shares the Sentencing Council's status as an arm's-length body of the Ministry of Justice, its independent statutory remit, and its engagement with the criminal justice system.
• Ministry of Justice: The parent department of the Sentencing Council, providing its funding and to which it is accountable. While the MoJ sets broader justice policy, it directly shapes the Council's remit through legislation and is the source of its resourcing, making it the most consequential institutional relationship.

Direct peers

• Scottish Sentencing Council: The Scottish Sentencing Council performs an analogous statutory function in Scotland, developing sentencing guidelines that courts must follow. It is the closest jurisdictional counterpart to the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, sharing the same fundamental mandate, methodology, and public body structure.
• United States Sentencing Commission: An independent federal agency that establishes sentencing guidelines for the U.S. federal courts. It is functionally analogous to the Sentencing Council for England and Wales in producing binding sentencing policy, conducting research, and supporting judicial decision-making through structured frameworks.

Emerging players

• Sentencing Academy: An independent charity that promotes knowledge and understanding of sentencing through research, seminars, and publications. It co-hosts seminars with the Sentencing Council and operates in the same sentencing research and education domain, serving overlapping academic and practitioner audiences.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sentencing-council-for-england-and-wales

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sentencing Council for England and Wales