Moved by
Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames
24B: Before Clause 12, insert the following new Clause—
“Presumption in favour of community sentence orders
(1) Section 152 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (general restrictions on imposing discretionary custodial sentences) is amended as follows.
(2) After subsection (2) insert—
“(2A) Where a court has discretion to pass a custodial sentence or impose a fine or a community sentence, the court must not pass a custodial sentence for a term of less than 12 months unless it is of the opinion that—
(a) the requirements of subsection (2) are satisfied, and
(b) there are special reasons which justify a custodial sentence,
and has had regard to the provisions of section 256AA.
(2B) A court passing a custodial sentence for a term of less than 12 months must state in open court the reasons for its opinion that there are special reasons which justify the sentence.”
(3) In subsection (3), after “(2)” insert “or (2A)”.”