Criminal Appeals: Attorney General’s References

Further to the recent post on Edlington, it appears that the Attorney General is set to refer the sentences in the case, passed in the Crown Court, to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they are unduly lenient. Anyone seeing the Mail on Sunday’s headline may have an inkling that this is a bit of a political decision… anyway, a good example of the power of the Attorney General under s36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 to make such a referral. The other referral available to the Attorney General is also to the Court of Appeal under the same Statute, where an acquittal can be referred for a ruling on the point of law only.