Sentencing Guidelines and Commissions

"This Book sets the stage for the rest of the volume. It provides an introduction to the key issues relating to guidance for courts at sentencing. After a brief historical overview it notes some key developments in the field since the introduction of sentencing guidelines in the 1980s. The chapter concludes by previewing the remaining contents of the volume. And also proposes a model guideline regime for jurisdictions disinclined to adopt sentencing grids. Our list is not exhaustive; we highlight the most important elements. Guidelines across the US have changed little over the years and commissions are unlikely to abandon the grid-based structure of their guidelines. Judges and practitioners in the guideline states appear comfortable with current arrangements and there is no professional or academic clamour for radical reform. The two-dimensional grid has long enjoyed prominence in the US marketplace of penal reforms. Outside the US, however, there has been more innovation - as seen in the diversity of guideline structures and features. This chapter is therefore largely directed to jurisdictions outside the US"--