NCJ Number
148752
Date Published
1993
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses changes made in 1993 to the British Criminal Justice Act 1991.
Abstract
Sections 65 and 66 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 make substantial changes to three aspects of the 1991 Act: the criteria justifying the use of custodial sentences contained in section 1 of the 1991 Act; section 29 of the 1991 Act governing the role of an offender's previous record in sentencing; and the unit fine system which the 1991 Act applied to magistrates' courts. Section 66 of the 1993 Act specifically deals with criteria for passing custodial sentences, the length of custodial sentences, criteria for community sentences, previous convictions, and offending on bail. Section 65 of the 1993 Act repeals the 1991 section outlining the unit fine system for magistrates' courts, and replaces it with new provisions applicable to all courts, in which judges are required to take into account an offender's financial situation when determining an appropriate fine.