Ministers Finally Put the Brakes on Two-Tier Justice After Judges Go Rogue

By HOAR Team 1 September, 2025 4 mins read 2568 Views

So this actually happened. Top judges thought it was brilliant to create different rules for different people, and now ministers are scrambling to fix the mess.

The whole thing started when the Sentencing Council - you know, those folks who think they know better than everyone else - decided judges needed to jump through extra hoops before sending certain groups to prison. We're talking ethnic minorities, young adults, abuse survivors, pregnant women. Because apparently justice wasn't complicated enough already.

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When Good Intentions Meet Reality (Spoiler: It Gets Messy)

Look, I get it. Nobody wants unfair treatment in the courts. But mandating that judges consult pre-sentence reports specifically for certain groups? That's not equality - that's literally the opposite.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, saw this train wreck coming from miles away. She wrote to the Council basically saying "are you out of your minds?" (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea). Lord Justice Davis, chair of the Council, basically told her to pound sand.

His response must have been something else because by June, Parliament had rushed through new legislation to block these guidelines faster than you can say "constitutional crisis."

The Nuclear Option

The Sentencing Bill that hit Parliament today doesn't mess around. Both the Justice Secretary and the Lady Chief Justice now get veto power over future guidelines before they see daylight.

It's like giving your teenager's friends a curfew because your kid keeps making terrible decisions. Not ideal, but sometimes necessary.

Mahmood tried to soften the blow: "Individual sentencing decisions will always be the responsibility of the independent judiciary – and this is something I will staunchly defend." Translation: judges can still do their jobs, but someone's going to be watching over their shoulders now.

Texas Has Entered the Chat

Here's where things get interesting (and slightly ironic). The same bill that's cracking down on judicial overreach is also introducing some pretty radical reforms borrowed from Texas.

Prisoners could serve just a third of their sentences if they behave themselves. Short sentences might become a thing of teh past, with more people getting tagged and serving time in the community instead.

It's almost like they're saying: "We don't trust you to make fair sentencing guidelines, but here's a completely different way to think about punishment."

What This Actually Means

The independence of judges isn't really under threat here - they can still sentence however they see fit in individual cases. But the days of unelected councils creating policy that looks suspiciously like social engineering? Those days are numbered.

Parliament's message is pretty clear: if you want to change how justice works in this country, you better be prepared to answer to voters about it. Revolutionary concept, I know.

Sometimes it takes a scandal to remind everyone who's actually supposed to be running the show.

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Did you miss our previous article...
https://hellofaread.com/politics/so-3567-migrants-crossed-after-starmers-big-france-deal-guess-how-many-got-sent-back