Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on weight given to victim statements under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.

Making a personal statement gives a victim of crime a voice in the criminal justice system. It enables them to explain the impact the crime has had on them in their own words so that it can be taken into account when an offender is sentenced.

The weight to be given to the impact a crime has had on a victim is a matter of discretion for the sentencing judge and will vary from case to case. It is one of several factors that the sentence judge will have to consider.

Where the case is one within the unduly lenient sentencing scheme and the a Law Officer considers that the sentencing judge has not given proper weight to the impact a crime has had on the victim, then they may decide to refer the case to the Court of Appeal as being potentially unduly lenient.