Turn up or else – by Joshua Rozenberg

The Ministry of Justice has announced details of penalties that may be imposed on convicted defendants in England and Wales who refuse to attend court for sentencing. The powers are included in legislation presented to parliament in the spring of last year.

Section 1 of the Victims and Courts Act 2026, which has not yet been brought into effect, will allow judges to order an offender’s attendance at a sentencing hearing in the crown court. It also says that custody officers may enforce the court’s order, using reasonable force if necessary and proportionate, “for the purpose of delivering the offender to the courtroom”.

An offender who fails to comply with an attendance order without reasonable excuse commits a criminal contempt of court, for which the punishment is up to two years’ imprisonment.

Recognising that this may not be much of a deterrent for an offender who is already facing life imprisonment, the legislation also allows judges to impose further sanctions.

If an offender fails to comply with an attendance order, or if the offender “commits a contempt of court by interrupting the hearing or otherwise misbehaving and is removed from the hearing because of their conduct”, then the court can make a prison sanctions order in relation to the offender — instead of, or in addition to, exercising any other power it has.

The sanctions are to be specified in regulations that a minister will lay before parliament today. They are expected to take effect next year.

However, they must “correspond to the punishments that may be imposed by a governor under prison rules for an offence against discipline”. Courts will not be able to impose these sanctions for longer than prison governors can now.

The Ministry of Justice has not yet published a draft of the regulations. But a press release says the sanctions will include:

• Loss of prison privileges for 84 days.

• Cellular confinement for up to 21 days.

• Loss of social visits for 27 days.

• Restrictions on social visits to once every four weeks for a period of 84 days.

The regulations “may… confer a discretion on the governor of the prison or young offender institution in which the person is detained”, according to the act. So it’s thought the governor will have the power to lift sanctions imposed by a court.

The prisons minister Catherine McKinnell said:

Criminals should not be able to pick and choose when they face justice. Refusing to turn up to sentencing is an insult to victims and their families, and offenders must face the consequences.

But the Ministry of Justice acknowledges that “no measure can guarantee prisoners attend their sentencing hearing”. These powers simply increase the penalties.

The Victims and Courts Act was passed by parliament in April and adds new provisions to the monumental Sentencing Act 2020, also known as the Sentencing Code. The government has not said why it waited until now before starting to bring the new powers into force.