Discharge (sentencing) - England and Wales

England and Wales

In England and Wales, a conditional discharge is a sentence vitiating the finding of guilt in which the offender receives no punishment provided that, in a period set by the court (not more than three years), no further offence is committed. If an offence is committed in that time, then the offender may also be re-sentenced for the offence for which a conditional discharge was given. Pursuant section 14 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 and R v Patel EWCA Crim 2689 the conditional discharge does not constitute a conviction unless the individual breaches the conditional discharge and is re-sentenced.

An absolute discharge is a lesser sentence imposed by a court, in which no penalty is imposed at all. Exceptionally, however, a court occasionally grants an absolute discharge for a very serious offence. (The signalman in the Thirsk rail crash, who was found guilty of manslaughter, is an example of this.) This usually signifies that while a crime may technically have been committed, the imposition of any punishment would, in the opinion of the judge or magistrates, be inappropriate.

In both cases, the passing of a discharge does not prevent the court from ordering the defendant to pay compensation to a victim, to pay a contribution towards the prosecution's costs, or to be disqualified from driving. A court may grant a discharge only if it is "inexpedient to inflict punishment", and may not do so for certain firearms offences or "three strikes" offenders. The law on discharges is set out in sections 12 to 15 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. (Note that section 14(3) does not prevent a court from disqualifying drivers.)

In 2008, 9,734 offenders were given absolute discharges (0.7% of sentences) and 87,722 offenders were given conditional discharges (6% of sentences).