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<p>The Ministry of Justice does not publish information on rates of imprisonment in
England and Wales as part of its statistical releases.</p><p> </p><p>However, the
Department is a contributor to the Council of Europe’s “SPACE I” annual report, which
provides an overview of the use of custodial sanctions and measures in the Member
States of the Council of Europe, including rates of imprisonment for each Member State.
The latest report “<em>SPACE I – 2018</em>” can be found at: <a href="http://wp.unil.ch/space/space-i/annual-reports/"
target="_blank">http://wp.unil.ch/space/space-i/annual-reports/</a></p><p> </p><p>By
law, courts in England and Wales are required to be satisfied that the offence committed
is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified. In the event a custodial
sentence is imposed, the law also requires that it should be for the shortest time
possible, commensurate with the seriousness of the offence.</p><p> </p><p>We are exploring
options to restrict the use of short custodial sentences, but have not at this stage
reached any conclusions. There is persuasive evidence showing that they do not work
in terms of rehabilitation and helping some offenders turn their backs on crime, and
that community sentences, in certain circumstances, are actually more effective in
reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community
orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that
over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been
sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other
similar people given community orders.</p>
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