Credit for guilty plea and mitigation

The Sentencing Code is the name given to Parts 2 to 13 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (SA 2020) which together comprise the consolidated rules of procedure for the sentencing of criminal offences by the criminal courts in England and Wales. It replaced the huge volume of pre-existing legislation which provided the procedural requirements to be followed by magistrates’ courts, Crown Courts and the Court of Appeal Criminal Division and is the sole reference point for the rules to be followed when sentencing convicted offenders.

Criminal lawyers practising in the criminal courts should be familiar with the Sentencing Code in conjunction with the Criminal Procedure Rules 2025 (CrimPR 2025), SI 2025/909 and any applicable sentencing guidelines when representing individuals or corporate bodies convicted for criminal offences.

Practice Note: Sentencing Code introduces the Sentence Code, explains the background to the Sentencing Code and what is meant by the ‘clean sweep’, confirms the limits to the scope of the Sentencing Code and highlights the structure of the Sentencing Code to assist practitioners to locate the relevant provisions they require.

Once a defendant has

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Corporate Crime News

BHP beats criminal contempt claim in Brazilian dam case

Law360, London: BHP won an application in the London Court of Appeal on 16 March 2026 to avoid criminal contempt proceedings over allegations that it lodged a case in a Brazilian court to halt claims in England connected with the collapse of a dam.

Corporate Crime weekly highlights—19 March 2026

This week's edition of Corporate Crime weekly highlights includes analysis of the Law Commission’s position that the government’s proposed juryless trials do not necessitate an amendment to its recent recommendations for reforms to the UK’s contempt of court rules and of the High Court’s criticism of the FCA’s handling of a search warrant application in a fraud investigation. Also included is news of the NCA’s National Strategic Assessment highlighting the growing technological threat from serious and organised crime and its proposals for a National Police Service, of OFSI’s updated approach to assessing reasonableness in sanctions licensing applications, of revised guidance on countering Russian sanctions evasion, and of the proposed extension of PACE and POCA powers to Environment Agency officers. All this, and more, in this week’s Corporate Crime highlights.

INTERPOL and UNODC conclude Global Fraud Summit with calls for enhanced international cooperation

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) concluded their Global Fraud Summit on 17 March 2026 with calls for strengthened global cooperation against fraud. The two-day summit in Vienna focused on technology-enabled fraud, particularly the use of generative artificial intelligence and deep-fake technologies by criminals. Over 1,300 participants from 47 countries attended, with representatives pledging specific actions to disrupt fraudulent systems. During the summit, INTERPOL released the second edition of its Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment. Meanwhile, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimated that global fraud losses amount to USD442 billion.

NCA publishes National Strategic Assessment 2026 and proposes National Police Service creation

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has published its National Strategic Assessment 2026, with Director General Graeme Biggar reporting that the overall threat from serious and organised crime increased in 2025. The assessment highlights that technology is no longer simply enabling crime; rather, it is actively reshaping criminal activities by accelerating them, globalising operations and increasing the harm caused. The report also noted 92,000 referrals from technology companies related to child sexual abuse and detailed that 533 boat or engine seizures in 2025 potentially prevented 33,000 additional channel crossing attempts. Furthermore, Director General Biggar proposed establishing a National Police Service to evolve law enforcement, building on the capabilities of the NCA and Counter Terrorism Policing to address converging criminal markets and the blurred boundaries between different types of crime.

View Corporate Crime by content type :

News