Lord Browne of Ladyton
Main Page: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Browne of Ladyton's debates with the Ministry of Justice
(2 days, 15 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Timpson (Lab)
The Equal Treatment Bench Book was written by judges, for judges. I am very clear that everybody should be treated equally in the eyes of the law.
Lord Browne of Ladyton (Lab)
My Lords, confident as I am that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Keen of Elie, has read the guidelines, I am sure he will agree with the noble Lord, Lord Marks, as I do, that nowhere do they require judges to hand down lighter sentences to ethnic minorities or any category of offender. They simply recommend that pre-sentence reports be sought for more categories of offender, so that sentences can better take into account any and all relevant factors. Does my noble friend agree that having pre-sentence reports in greater numbers and in more cases would be a welcome step in helping sentencers arrive at fair, appropriate, transparent and effective sentences for all offenders?
Lord Timpson (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that question. It is clear that pre-sentence reports can be very useful. Our focus needs to be on having good pre-sentence reports and, when people leave prison and custody, making sure that they have a one-way ticket, not a return, because we do not want them to reoffend.