SIR – How have we got to the point where the judiciary makes up rules in active opposition to the elected Government?
The Sentencing Council has issued guidance that requires judges and magistrates to take into account the background of criminals from ethnic, religious or gender minorities when sentencing them – a move that Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, says should be reversed (report, March 6).
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For years we have seen judgments that are seemingly not in accordance with government policy, and now we have the judiciary actually making it up as it goes along. The Council suggested that a reason for the guidance is that ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the prison population. Has it occurred to it that this may simply reflect disproportionate representation among the convicted?
The Justice Secretary has stated her opposition to the guidance, and there the matter should end. However, she is currently powerless to stop it coming into force. It is well beyond time for this situation to end.
Judith Rixon
Bourne, Lincolnshire. DT.
