The Criminal Justice Act 2003 will herald a revolution in sentencing.

Andrew Keogh looks at the small print

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is the most far-reaching piece of criminal legislation to reach the statute book for many decades.

When the Act is fully in force, it will impact on every area of criminal justice, from point of arrest, right through to appeal.

Practitioners will be required to rethink the way they conduct their practices and adapt to new methods of dealing with prisoners, and charging suspects.

At the same time, retraining will be required to keep abreast of the changes made in relation to sentencing and procedure.

The Act touches on almost every aspect of criminal litigation.

Included are increased sentencing powers for magistrates (12 months), abolition of the power to commit for sentence following acceptance of jurisdiction (in all but one instance), abolition of committal procedures and increased reliance on the sending of cases under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

The Act is designed to ensure that criminal trials are run more efficiently and to reduce the scope for abuse of the system.

It will reform the rules on advance disclosure of evidence and will allow for judge-alone trials in cases involving threats and intimidation of juries.

It also paves the way for judge-alone trials in exceptionally long, complex serious fraud cases.

It will ensure the wider involvement of the community as a whole by reforming rules on jury service.

Rules on evidence will be changed to allow the use of previous convictions where relevant, and to allow the use of reported (hearsay) evidence where there is good reason why the original source cannot be present, or where the judge otherwise considers it would be appropriate.

It will enable any witness to give evidence using live links.

A right of appeal for the prosecution against judicial decisions to direct or order an acquittal before the jury has been asked to consider the evidence will be introduced to balance a defendant's right of appeal against both conviction and sentence.

The Act will also make it possible in certain very serious cases for a retrial to take place despite an earlier acquittal if there is new and compelling evidence of an accused's guilt.

The Act aims to provide a sentencing framework that is clearer and more flexible than the current situation.

The purposes of sentencing of adults are identified in statute for the first time, as punishment, crime reduction, reform and rehabilitation, public protection and reparation.

The principles of sentencing are set out, including that any previous convictions, where they are recent and relevant, should be regarded as an aggravating factor that will increase the severity of the sentence.

A Sentencing Guidelines Council will be established.

Sentences will be reformed, so that the various kinds of community order for adults will be replaced by a single community order with a range of possible requirements.

Custodial sentences of less than 12 months will be replaced by a new sentence, described in the 2001 Halliday report into sentencing as 'custody-plus'.

This will always involve a period of at least 26 weeks post-release supervision in the community.

And sentences of longer than 12 months will be served in full, half in custody, half in the community, with supervision extended to the end of the sentence rather than the three-quarter point as now.

Serious violent and sexual offenders will be given sentences that will ensure that they are kept in prison or under supervision for longer periods than currently.

At the other end of the custodial scale, several 'intermediate' sanctions will be introduced.

These include intermittent custody and a reformed suspended sentence in which offenders have to complete a range of requirements imposed by the court.

The intention is for the court to be able to provide each offender with a sentence that best meets the need of the particular case, at any level of seriousness.

It is also intended for sentences to be more effectively managed by the correctional services who will need to work together closely in delivering the new sentences.

The parts of the Act currently in force are:

- Mandatory life sentences.

A framework for the sentencing of those convicted of murder came in to force on 18 December 2003.

The Act prescribes tariff periods for certain categories of murder, in an attempt to give Parliament more say in the sentencing of those offenders.

For adults aged 21 or older, these starting-points are: whole life order, 30 years and 15 years.

Factors that bear on determination of starting-point are set out in schedule 21 of the Act (abduction and murder of a child would have a whole life starting point, for example).

Juveniles may only be subject to a 12-year starting-point.

Once an offender has been allocated a starting-point, the court may then consider aggravating and mitigating factors, and may add to or subtract from the term accordingly, to arrive at a minimum term.

The court may arrive at any minimum term from any starting-point.

Transitional provisions for those already subject to life tariffs are provided for under the Act, the first case of Riaz [2004] EWHC 74 (QB), cast doubt of the Acts compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.

- Amendments to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

The Act makes substantial changes to policing.

These include: extended powers of stop and search (section 1), provisions relating to the execution of warrants (section 2), and a new power to bail suspects on the street, without having to take them to a police station and process them first (so called street bail).

All persons arrested for an 'arrestable offence' can now be detained for up to 36 hours, and terrorist suspects for up to 14 days.

Amendments have been made in relation to the processing of prisoner property and police review of detention.

All of these changes took effect on 20 January 2004.

The most newsworthy development on the police front has been in relation to cannabis.

While cannabis has been re-classified as a class C drug, there is a specific power of arrest for this drug, and sentences have been increased from five to 14 years, sending a potentially mixed message to the public.

- Increased and minimum sentences.

The Act (section 287) provides for minimum sentences of five years for adult offenders convicted of certain firearms offences.

Sentences for the importation or exportation of firearms have been increased from seven to ten years' imprisonment, while causing death by dangerous driving has been increased to 14 years.

Other changes have been made in relation to related homicide driving offences.

- Intermittent custody.

Weekend prison has been introduced in two pilot areas.

Courts can sentence an adult offender to between 14 and 90 days intermittent custody for one offence, and between 14 days (for each offence) and a maximum of 180 days for consecutive offences.

The custody element of the order is served with on weekdays or at the weekend, allowing an offender to maintain employment while at the same time suffering from some detriment to his liberty.

LINKS: A comprehensive list of materials in relation to the Act and information on current commencement orders can be found at: www.cja2003.com.

Solicitor-advocate Andrew Keogh is an associate at Manchester-based Tuckers Solicitors and the author of Criminal Justice Act 2003: A Guide to the New Law (Law Society Publishing, 34.95 plus 3.50 postage and packing) available from Marston Book Services, tel: 01235 465656