Commentary on Sections Part 12 - Sentencing Chapter 1: General provisions about sentencing Section 153: Length of discretionary custodial sentences: general provision
456.This section re-enacts section 80 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act but modifies that provision to direct the court to impose the shortest term that is commensurate with the seriousness of the offence(s), subject to mandatory minimum sentences (in sections 110 and 111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act and 51A of the Firearms Act 1968) and the provisions of the extended sentence in Sections 227 and 228. Subsection (1) provides an exception to the rule for the case where the sentence is fixed by law (i.e. as a mandatory life sentence), and in the case of a discretionary life sentence or a new sentence of imprisonment or detention for public protection (sections 225 and 226).