Sentencing Council issues first guideline on environmental offences

The Sentencing Council has published its first guideline for judges and magistrates on sentencing people who have committed environmental offences.

The guideline will come into force in the courts on 1 July 2014 and is expected to lead to larger fines for serious offenders.

The document covers a range of offences related to the disposal of waste and rubbish, including fly-tipping. These are most contained in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.

The Sentencing Council hopes that the document will address a lack of familiarity, particularly among magistrates, with sentencing of these offences.

In its review the council had also concluded that the levels of some fines were too low and failed to reflect the seriousness of the offence.

“It [the guideline] encourages magistrates to make more use of the highest levels of fines for some of the more serious offences that come before the courts. Corporate offenders committing serious offences, who are likely to be those causing most damage or risk to health, are expected to get higher fines,” the Sentencing Council said.

It added that there were unlikely to be significant changes to penalty levels for lower level offences, and the overall proportions of offenders receiving the various types of sentence such as fines, community sentences, discharges and prison sentences, were expected to remain the same.

Following feedback, the Sentencing Council has:

• included separate guidelines for offences committed by organisations and those committed by individuals;
• added specific steps relating to financial orders - compensation and confiscation - that the court should consider before deciding what a fine should be;
• put elements of the sentencing process into separate steps to ensure all relevant factors are considered in assessing the right level of penalty;
• changed the way organisations are categorised in terms of size “to help sentencers more easily pitch a fine that is proportionate to the means of the company”. Penalty levels have also been changed accordingly;
• expanded the scope of the guideline. “Consultation feedback suggested that the general principles in the guideline could also be applied more widely to further environmental offences such as the unlawful treatment or disposal of waste. While the sentencing levels set out would not be used, the general approach can be applied.”

Sentencing Council member and magistrate Katharine Rainsford said: “This guidance for courts will help ensure consistent and appropriate sentences for offenders.

“These crimes are normally about making or saving money at the expense of the taxpayer. They also undermine law-abiding businesses in the waste management industry who are contributing to economic growth. This guideline aims to ensure that sentences hit offenders in their pocket.”

Peter Chapman, Chairman of the Magistrates’ Association’s judicial committee, said: “This guideline represents the successful realisation of aspirations going back many years. Magistrates sentence the majority of environmental offences and almost all fly tipping and they live in the communities which suffer from it.”

More details on the guideline can be found on the Sentencing Council's website here.