asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will issue appropriate guidance to the courts on sentences for honour killings, coercion and related violence. [HL1564]
It is generally for the independent Sentencing Guidelines Council to produce guidelines for the courts on sentencing. It has published a guideline on Overarching Principles: Domestic Violence, which is available at the following link: www.sentencinguidelines.gov.uk/guidelines/council/final.html. The council has also recently consulted on draft guidelines on “Assaults and other offences against the person” and a definitive guideline will be published soon. Where a defendant is convicted of murder, the mandatory sentence is life and the statutory principles which the court must follow in deciding the minimum term to be served before release may be considered by the Parole Board are set out in Section 269 of and Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003.