Mitigation in the sentencing of criminal offences

Produced in partnership with Stan Reiz KC of 2 Bedford Row

Practice notes

Mitigation in the sentencing of criminal offences

Produced in partnership with Stan Reiz KC of 2 Bedford Row

Practice notes

Once a defendant has been convicted of a criminal offence by a criminal court in England and Wales, the court will move to consider what sentence should be imposed. See Practice Notes: Sentencing procedure in the magistrates’ and Crown Courts and Sentencing Code.

Factors determining sentence

The sentencing courts are obliged to take account of any matters that ‘in the opinion of the court, are relevant in mitigation of sentence’.

Mitigation includes any aspect of a case that reduces the severity of the sentence passed: either the length of sentence or type. Aggravating factors are factors which increase the severity of a sentence.

Before forming any opinions for the purposes of imposing some sentences, the court is required to take into account both aggravating factors and mitigating factors related to the circumstances of the offence and any associated offence. The court should obtain a pre-sentence report for these purposes unless in the circumstances of the case, it considers that it is unnecessary to obtain one. See Practice Note: Pre-sentence reports.

Stan Reiz, KC

Barrister, 2 Bedford Row

Stan Reiz KC specialises in representing individuals and corporates in all aspects of financial crime. He successfully represented a HNW property developer charged with Cheating the Public Revenue out of millions of pounds in tax; achieved the discharge of an account freezing order for another HNW director of property development companies; defended a practising doctor prosecuted by the FCA for Financial Services Act offences arising from the selling of shares; secured a suspended sentence for a money transmitter who breached the Money Laundering Regulations by transferring in excess of £10 million obtained from fraud out of the jurisdiction; and acted for numerous company directors accused of investment frauds, including professionals working in the provision of legal, accountancy and financial services.

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Mr Reiz KC appeared for the appellant in the reported case of R v Haque (Mohammed) [2020] 1 Cr App R 12; [2020] WLR (D) 49 in which the Court of Appeal quashed a conviction for money laundering on technical grounds as the prosecution had wrongly charged the appellant with an offence under section 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

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Mr Reiz KC defended a de facto trustee of numerous charities accused of facilitating a multi-million pound international money laundering arrangement using the charities as front to conceal international currency trades.

Mr Reiz KC appeared in complex confiscation proceedings for an individual who had been convicted of insider trading offences. He also advised a client being investigated by the DBIS for breaching the Export Control Order 2008, which regulates the international trade of arms and ammunition. Following a lengthy investigation, no further action being taken against him.

Mr Reiz KC has represented corporates accused of trading standards and regulatory offences.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Mitigation definition

What does Mitigation mean?

A claimant may be under a duty to mitigate their loss if there is a breach of contract or a tort is committed. The effect of a failure to mitigate is that the claimant cannot recover damages in respect of the portion of their loss that is attributable to their own conduct or lack of it.

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