The Sentencing Act 2020 is a landmark act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act has 14 Parts and 29 Schedules. Parts 2 to 13 of the act together make up a code called the “Sentencing Code”. The Sentencing Code is the law which contains the main sentencing regime in England and Wales.
Passage The act was a Consolidation Bill as recommended by the Law Commission. It was introduced as a Bill in the House of Lords by Lord Keen of Elie, Advocate General for Scotland on 5 March 2020. The Bill was given a second reading in the Lords on 25 June 2020, had its order of commitment discharged on 25 July 2020, given a third reading and passed on 8 September 2020 by the Lords. The Bill was then introduced to the House of Commons by Robert Buckland, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice on 9 September 2020. The Bill was given a second and third reading and passed on 30 September 2020. This was probably the only Bill of this size for a significant period of time to be passed by both Houses without any amendment being made. The Bill was supported and endorsed by many politicians, including most prominently Lord Judge, the former Lord Chief Justice, who commented about how it would improve the location of sentencing law in the United Kingdom for judges.
Provisions
Sentencing Code The Sentencing Code consolidates a plethora of legislation relating to sentencing and also sought to stamp out previous legislative ambiguities and inconsistencies. Many acts were consolidated into and repealed as a consequence of the Sentencing Code.
The Sentencing Code has been amended since the enactment of the Sentencing Act 2020 by different acts, including, in particular, the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Section 3 of the PCSC inserted 'Harpers Law'—which requires a life sentence for manslaughter of an emergency worker, absent extraordinary circumstances—into the Sentencing Code. The Sentencing Code is due to be further amended by the Victims and Prisoners Bill, the Criminal Justice Bill and the Sentencing Bill, the latter of which will make whole life orders mandatory for certain offences.
Purpose of sentencing Section 57 of the act sets out five statutory purposes of sentencing:
the punishment of offenders the reduction of crime the reform and rehabilitation of offenders the protection of the public the making of reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offences
Terrorism connection Under section 69 of the act, a court sentencing an offender for certain offences must consider whether the offence had a "terrorism connection".
A terrorism connection may be found where the offence was, or took place in the course of, an act of terrorism, or was committed for the purposes of terrorism. The test therefore relies on the definition of terrorism in section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000, including action involving serious violence, serious damage to property, serious risk to public safety, or serious interference with an electronic system, where the remaining statutory elements are satisfied.
The concept of a "terrorism connection" was first introduced in section 30 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, and a number of cases subsequent to that act resulted a terrorism connection being applied as an aggravating factor in sentencing: 2017 Parsons Green train bombing 2020 Reading stabbings
A finding of terrorism connection is treated as a statutory aggravating factor and may also trigger terrorism-related ancillary consequences, including notification requirements.
The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021 expanded the sentencing regime by requiring courts to consider terrorist connection findings for a wider range of non-terrorism offences punishable by more than two years' imprisonment, unless expressly excluded.
Since the Sentencing Act 2020 were introduced, a "terrorism connection" has been applied on a number of occasions in cases of violent crimes where the perpetrators were motivated by ideological causes: 2021 Murder of David Amess 2023 St Mary's Hospital Leeds attack 2023 Hartlepool knife murder 2024 Neo-Nazi stabbing 2024 Russia-backed arson attack
Public scrutiny of Section 69 increased during 2026 following its application in sentencing three of the defendants in the Filton protest case, who had been convicted of one count of criminal damage.
Scrutiny further increased in July 2026 when the judge in a case involving five defendants accused of breaking windows and throwing red paint over a branch of Barclays Bank in Lancashire announced that he too would be considering a "terrorism connection" in sentencing. Human rights lawyers denounced the step as "unfair" given that none of the defendants had been prosecuted on the basis of their being a "terrorism connection", and the announcement was only made by the judge after a guilty verdict had been returned.
Harper's Law Schedule 21 to the act sets out Harper's Law, which provides for a whole life order for murders a person belonging to certain categories.
Repealed enactments Section 413(1) of the act repealed 51 enactments and revoked 18 instruments, listed in schedule 28 to the act.