The Sentencing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 22 January 2026 and most of its changes came into force on 22 March. It is, on the whole, a defendant friendly Act. It creates a presumption in favour of a suspended sentence order for shorter custodial terms, extends the powers to suspend and to defer, cuts prison release points, limits recall to a fixed 56 days, and reshapes the bail regime.
Sam Wiggs, criminal pupil barrister at St John's Buildings, sets out each change with the commencement date attached, which matters here because the Act commences in four separate waves running from 22 March to 2 September 2026. The presumption in favour of a suspended sentence order turns on the date of conviction rather than the date of the offence, and a defendant convicted before 22 March but not yet sentenced does not benefit.
The session covers the five exceptions to the presumption in detail, the extension of the maximum suspendable sentence from two years to three, the new one third and one half release points and the staggered commencement for those already serving, the 56 day fixed term recall, the repeal of post sentence supervision for sentences under two years, the new power for a responsible officer to terminate a community order without going back to court, and the new section 3AAB of the Bail Act on electronic monitoring.
Key Takeaways
- When the presumption in favour of a suspended sentence order applies, and the five exceptions that most often defeat it, including the significant risk of harm exception in domestic abuse cases
- Why a pre sentence report is now worth requesting whenever the court is considering departing from the presumption
- How the maximum suspendable sentence rose from two years to three, and why the three year operational period only applies above two years
- The new release points, with most offenders moving from two thirds to one half and from one half or 40 per cent to one third, and who is excluded
- How fixed term recall gives adults 56 days and automatic re-release on licence, unless they fall within Schedule 4
- Why a responsible officer can now terminate a community order or an SSO supervision period without an application to the court, and the five conditions that must be met
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