The Sentencing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 6 and Revocation) Regulations 2026 were made on 1 September 2026 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Jake Richards. The instrument extends to England and Wales and brings further parts of the Sentencing Act 2026 into force from 1 October 2026. In policy terms, this is a commencement instrument rather than a change to the maximum penalties available to courts. Its effect is to switch on new release rules for some determinate sentences, set out a phased timetable for existing cases, preserve the current position for specified offences, and revoke an earlier commencement instrument that is being replaced.
According to the Explanatory Note, section 23 of the Sentencing Act 2026 amends the Criminal Justice Act 2003 rules on the requisite custodial period for adult standard determinate sentences. For prisoners released under section 244 of the 2003 Act, the custodial period moves from 40% or 50% of the sentence, depending on the offence, to one-third of the sentence. For those released under section 244ZA, the Explanatory Note says the custodial period falls from two-thirds of the sentence to one-half. Section 24 makes linked amendments on driving disqualification so that any extension to a disqualification period continues to match the revised custodial period.
The regulations draw a clear line between cases already in the system and cases coming after commencement. From 1 October 2026, the commenced provisions operate generally for sentences that are not excluded by the Schedule. In practice, that means eligible adult standard determinate sentences imposed from that date fall under the new release fractions from the outset. Separate transitional rules apply to people serving sentences imposed before 1 October 2026. The instrument treats those already in custody differently from those already in the community on licence with a curfew condition immediately before commencement.
For prisoners in custody immediately before 1 October 2026 on a sentence imposed before that date, regulation 3 introduces a staged timetable. The relevant commencement date depends on the length of the "relevant sentence" calculated immediately before 1 October 2026. Where there are concurrent terms, the regulations use the longest sentence. Where there are consecutive terms, they use the aggregate length. The first group, with a relevant sentence of less than 575 days, comes within the new rules on 1 October 2026. Later bands follow on 13 October, 10 November and 8 December 2026, then on 12 January, 9 February, 9 March, 13 April, 11 May and 8 June 2027 as sentence lengths increase. The final band, covering relevant sentences above 4,396 days, is not brought in until 8 June 2027. The practical effect is a phased transition over more than eight months rather than a single commencement point for all existing prisoners.
Regulation 4 sets a later date for a narrower group: people serving a sentence imposed before 1 October 2026 who are already in the community, on licence and subject to a curfew condition within the meaning of section 253 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, immediately before commencement. For that cohort, the relevant provisions do not come into force until 12 October 2027. That distinction matters because it means the same underlying legislative change reaches different groups at different times, depending not only on sentence date and length but also on whether the individual is still in custody or has already been released on a curfew-based licence arrangement.
Regulation 5 provides the main carve-out. The provisions commencing sections 23 and 24 do not come into force for sentences imposed for offences listed in the Schedule, so those cases keep their current custodial periods. The Schedule is broad. It includes manslaughter; conspiring or soliciting to commit murder; child destruction; child cruelty; infanticide; rape and a wide range of child sexual offences; indecent photographs of children; complicity in another's suicide; causing death by dangerous or careless driving; certain causing death by cycling offences; endangering safety at aerodromes; dangerous dogs offences; and genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. The Schedule also extends beyond principal offences. It covers attempts, conspiracy, encouraging or assisting offences under Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, incitement, and aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring where the underlying offence is listed or is murder. It also captures equivalent service offences. Several entries refer to repealed statutory provisions, which is legally important because older convictions can still govern the release position for historic sentences.
Regulation 6 creates a further exception for youth sentencing. Section 23(10) of the 2026 Act does not come into force for sentences imposed under section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 or section 250 of the Sentencing Code. The Explanatory Note explains that section 23(10) would revoke the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Requisite and Minimum Custodial Periods) Order 2024, which preserves a 40% custodial period, rather than 50%, for certain offences. The effect of regulation 6 is to stop that revocation applying to those youth sentence categories. In practical terms, this preserves the existing release framework for those cases rather than moving them into the general commencement arrangement created elsewhere in the instrument.
Regulation 7 revokes the Sentencing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2026, with the Explanatory Note stating that the earlier provisions are replaced by this instrument. The same note also records that no full impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. For courts, prisons, probation teams and legal advisers, the operational question is not simply whether section 23 has started. The decisive points are whether the offence is listed in the Schedule, whether the sentence was imposed before 1 October 2026, whether the individual was in custody or already on curfew licence immediately before that date, and how the relevant sentence length is calculated. For eligible adult standard determinate sentences, the regulations shorten time in custody before release. For the excluded offences, the existing release fractions stay in place.