Changes to sentencing legislation: March 2026

Suspended Sentence Orders

The Sentencing Act 2026 makes significant changes to suspended sentences, with these changes coming into force on 22 March 2026 for people convicted on or after that date.

It creates a presumption of a suspended sentence order for short sentences of 12 months or less, to ensure short custodial sentences are used only in exceptional circumstances. The Ministry of Justice’s view is that Suspended Sentence Orders and Community Orders are now preferable.

However, the Court can still pass a custodial sentence if it is of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances which relate to the offence or the offender and justify not making the order to suspend.

These exceptions include, but are not limited to, offences committed by a breach of a Court order (such as restraining orders and stalking protection orders) and offences committed while an offender is subject to a supervision order (such as a Suspended Sentence Order).

The Court is also not under the presumption of passing a Suspended Sentence Order, where passing it would put an individual at a significant risk of harm, such as victims. This is relevant to domestic abuse and violence cases. Harm includes both physical and psychological.

For custodial sentences of between 2 to 3 years, the Act allows Courts to set an operational period (the length of the suspension) of up to 3 years. The operational period may only exceed two years if the length of the custodial sentence to be suspended exceeds two years.

The Act does not increase the maximum supervision period of two years (supervision by the Probation Service) except for unpaid work which can continue until the end of the operational period.

For more information or free initial advice please contact us on 01606 592159.