Scrapping of funding by the Government for pre-sentencing cultural reports has been criticised.
The reports consider how an offender's personal, family or cultural background may have contributed to their crime.
Convenor of the Criminal Law Committee Chris Macklin says the process has evolved from Judges asking for more information.
"These reports are not just full of excuses, they often have within them a whole ambit of things- running from very poor decision-making, through to some very tortured -and difficult to hear - background stories."
Those before the court who wish to provide a cultural report will have to fund it themselves.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.