The Sentencing Council has performed a dramatic U-turn, suspending its controversial ‘two-tier justice’ guidelines just hours before they were due to come into force—following an extraordinary campaign led by Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick.
Judges had been preparing to implement new rules advising courts to “normally consider” pre-sentence reports for criminals who were “an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community”, transgender, young or female—but made no such provision for other offenders.
The policy sparked fury across the political spectrum, with the Conservative’s Robert Jenrick KC MP leading the charge to scrap the divisive proposals, warning they would embed discrimination into British justice and damage public confidence in the legal system.
This evening, Lord Justice Davis, Chairman of the Sentencing Council, announced the guidance would be suspended, just hours before it was due to come into effect on Tuesday—marking a major victory for Jenrick and those demanding equal treatment under the law.
In a humiliating reversal for Labour, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who just days ago appeared unwilling to act, announced she would now introduce emergency legislation to block the policy from ever being introduced.
“These guidelines create a justice system where outcomes could be influenced by race, culture or religion,” she ADMITTED.
“This differential treatment is unacceptable – equality before the law is the backbone of public confidence in our justice system. I will change the law to ensure fairness for all in our courts.”
The admission came after weeks of mounting pressure from Jenrick, who exposed the policy and launched a legal challenge threatening judicial review.
“The Sentencing Council had until 5pm to respond to my legal challenge or face an injunction,” Mr Jenrick revealed.
“I was advised we had a strong chance of winning. They have folded under the pressure.”
Even the Sentencing Council itself, while continuing to defend the principles behind the guidance, conceded it could not proceed with advice that would soon become unlawful.
“The council, an independent statutory body, has chosen to delay the in-force date of the guideline pending such legislation taking effect,” it said.
The dramatic climbdown came just three days after Lord Justice Davis defiantly claimed the council would not bow to government pressure—a position now utterly reversed.
The policy had been blasted as a clear example of “two-tier justice”, giving preferential treatment to certain groups while denying it to others, regardless of the crime.
Critics said the rules could have led to more criminals from ethnic minority backgrounds avoiding jail with community sentences, while white offenders were denied similar leniency.
The backlash grew so fierce that Labour frontbenchers joined their Conservative counterparts in denouncing the policy.
Mr Jenrick has now called for a sweeping review of all Ministry of Justice guidelines, following further revelations by The Telegraph that judges have been prioritising ethnic minority suspects in bail decisions.
“I think we need to have a root and branch trawl through all of the guidance, the rules, the policy documents that the Ministry of Justice has put out and get rid of all of this two-tier nonsense and restore sanity,” he said, speaking on The Telegraph’s Daily T podcast.
With Labour forced onto the back foot and the Sentencing Council in retreat, it was Jenrick’s relentless campaign that turned the tide—a powerful example of political pressure delivering real change in the name of justice.
