How Sentencing Guidelines work in practice - Assessing Culpability and Harm

All Contents > Sentencing Guidelines Intro > Step 1 Culpability & Harm > Step 2 Starting Point and Sentencing Range > Steps 3 onwards to Final Sentence

Sentencing Guidelines Step 1 Culpability and Harm

“The court will start by considering a list of factors in the guideline to determine the defendant’s culpability (level of responsibility) and the level of harm caused to the victim(s). ”

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Using the Sentencing Guidelines
Step 1 - Offence Category (Assessing culpability and harm)
ABH Sentencing Example - the Sentencing Guidelines in practice

How do Sentencing Guidelines work? Step by step

Using the Sentencing Guidelines

Judges and magistrates go through a series of steps in order to find the appropriate sentence to fit the circumstances of a particular offence, starting with Step 1 - assessing culpability and harm.
All guidelines work in a similar way. Those that are created for specific offences contain a number of factors most commonly associated with that offence to assist the sentencing court.