CHIEF Justice Zaila McCalla has said that the long-awaited sentencing guidelines for judges are “soon” to be completed.

However, Justice McCalla, who made the disclosure Monday during a function at King’s House in St Andrew to swear in the acting head of the Court of Appeal, did not elaborate on the matter.

Justice McCalla had appointed a committee from the judiciary to formulate the guidelines that are expected to end disparity in sentencing and foster more guilty pleas. This, too, is touted as a mechanism to assist in the reduction of backlog of cases.

Justice Minister Mark Golding, who had for years been pushing for the guidelines which he said are for circuit court judges, was satisfied that the process was nearing completion.

“It will provide a framework for judges to use for sentencing, and any departure from it will require an explanation,” Golding told the Jamaica Observer.

“It encourages greater transparency in the way sentencing are handed down,” said Golding, who is also an attorney.

Attorneys have, for years, said that their clients have been apprehensive to plead guilty due to uncertainty of the sentence they would receive.

Earlier this year, Justice Lloyd Hibbert, speaking at the opening of a session of the Home Circuit Court, noted that more guilty pleas would come if accused persons knew in advance the sentence they would get.

The guidelines will detail the range of sentences acceptable for several offences, including sexual assault.

— Paul Henry