BRITAIN:Senior English and Welsh judges have given an overwhelming thumbs down to sentencing reforms proposed by British home secretary John Reid and lord chancellor Lord Falconer.
A document from the body representing 600 Crown Court judges in England and Wales, obtained by the London Times, shows they have rejected 14 of the 16 proposals put forward by ministers in November last year.
The Council of Her Majesty's Circuit Court Judges raised concerns over what it saw as the government's "change for the sake of change" approach to criminal justice.
Proposals for reform were put forward by Mr Reid and Lord Falconer in the consultation paper Making Sentencing Clearer in the wake of the furore surrounding the trial of paedophile Craig Sweeney last year.
They included measures to prevent serious offenders being released automatically after serving half their sentences, as well as changes to increase the use of fines for low-level offenders and impose "robust" community sentences as an alternative to short custodial sentences.
Mr Reid and Lord Falconer said the changes would "rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the law-abiding majority" and bolster public understanding of sentences.
But the Times quoted the council of judges' response: "There is the perception of 'change for the sake of change' in much current policy. This often appears to be kneejerk reaction to particular situations.
"It gives the impression of crisis management. Frequently no thought is given to the longer-term consequences of the proposals."
According to the document, only two of the ideas put forward by ministers gained the judges' backing. These were relatively minor reforms to reduce the number of probation officers' reports on offenders and to publish details of the costs of different sentencing options. - ( PA)