Sentencing guidelines
{{criminal procedure (trial)}}
Sentencing guidelines define a recommended sentencing range for a criminal defendant, based upon characteristics of the defendant and of the criminal charge. Depending upon the jurisdiction, sentencing guidelines may be nonbinding, or their application may be mandatory for the criminal offenses that they cover.{{cite web |title=State Sentencing Guidelines Profiles and Continuum |url=https://www.ncsc.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/25474/state_sentencing_guidelines.pdf |website=National Center for State Courts |access-date=30 December 2021 |date=July 2008}}
By contrast, mandatory sentencing involves the imposition of legal parameters for criminal sentences, typically mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ussc.gov/topic/mandatory-minimums |title=Mandatory Minimums |publisher=United States Sentencing Commission |access-date=2021-11-05}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.uscourts.gov/News/TheThirdBranch/10-06-01/Sentencing_Commission_Takes_New_Look_at_Mandatory_Minimums.aspx|title=Sentencing Commission Takes New Look at Mandatory Minimums |date=June 2010 |publisher=United States Courts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011112132/http://www.uscourts.gov/News/TheThirdBranch/10-06-01/Sentencing_Commission_Takes_New_Look_at_Mandatory_Minimums.aspx |archive-date=2012-10-11 }}
Worldwide
=United States=
{{Further|United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines}}
In the United States federal courts, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines have long been applied to criminal sentencings.[https://ssrn.com/abstract=2904664 Compliance, Technology, and Modern Finance, 11 Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law 159 (2016)] State courts use their own sentencing guidelines. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are non-binding independent agency recommendations that inform sentencing in law.{{cite web |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/federal_sentencing_guidelines |title=Federal Sentencing Guidelines |publisher=Legal Information Institute |access-date=16 December 2014}} Courts consider these advisory forms, which contain maximum and minimum sentences, before deciding a defendant's sentence.{{Cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/s-ct/138/1765/#p1776 |title=Hughes v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1765 (2018) |page=1776 |work=U.S. Supreme Court |date=June 4, 2018 |publisher=Harvard Law School}}
"The Sentencing Guidelines enumerate aggravating and mitigating circumstances, assign scores based on a defendant's criminal record and based on the seriousness of the crime, and specify a range of punishments for each crime."{{Cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/pa/571/419/#p424 |title=Commonwealth v. Mouzon, 571 Pa. 419, 812 A.2d 617 (2002) |page=424 |work=Supreme Court of Pennsylvania |date=December 19, 2002 |publisher=Harvard Law School}}
State sentencing guidelines vary significantly in their complexity, and whether they are non-binding or mandatory in their application.
=United Kingdom=
In England and Wales, the Sentencing Council (formerly the Sentencing Guidelines Council) sets sentencing guidelines, and in Scotland the Scottish Sentencing Council holds this responsibility.
= Canada =
Canada does not possess sentencing guidelines or a sentencing commission.{{Cite web |title=Sentencing in Canada |url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/202006E? |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=lop.parl.ca}}