UK Criminal Law 2025: an end-of-year review

A monumental year of change and reflection for Criminal Law in the UK.

2025 has been a busy year for criminal justice across the UK, with changes ranging from corporate criminal liability and sentencing reform, to fresh legislative proposals aimed at retail crime, violence against women and girls, and public order.

Below is a practical, end-of-year round-up of the most newsworthy criminal law developments from 2025, focusing on England & Wales (with a small note where a change is UK-wide or Scotland-specific).

1) Corporate crime: “failure to prevent fraud” is now in force (from 1 September 2025)

One of the biggest operational changes of the year is the coming into force of the new corporate offence of failure to prevent fraud.

In short: large organisations can be criminally liable if an employee, agent or other “associated person” commits certain fraud offences intending to benefit the organisation (or its customers), unless the organisation can show it had reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place.

• Why it matters: it shifts risk away from proving “directing mind” involvement and towards what a business did (or failed to do) to prevent fraud.
• Practical impact: compliance programmes, training, reporting lines and third-party controls have moved from “good practice” into “litigation-ready evidence”.

If you advise or represent businesses (or directors), this is one of the few developments in 2025 that can change a case’s complexion before a charging decision is even made.

2) Sentencing guidance and pre-sentence reports: Parliament intervenes (June 2025)

In June, the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Act 2025 received Royal Assent.

The Act is aimed at what sentencing guidelines can say about pre-sentence reports (PSRs), after a politically heated debate earlier in the year about whether guidance risked creating “two-tier” outcomes.

The Sentencing Council also moved to amend guidelines in light of the new legislation, including changes linked to the Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline and related materials.

• Why it matters: PSRs are often central to mitigation, risk management, and whether custody can be avoided (or suspended).
• Practical impact: expect more argument about when a PSR is “necessary” and how far a court should go when one is absent or limited.

3) Domestic homicide sentencing: new statutory aggravating factors for murder (in force from 23 October 2025)

Secondary legislation made in 2025 amended the statutory framework used to set minimum terms for murder (mandatory life sentences). Two particularly notable additions are new aggravating factors where:

• the murder is connected with the end of an intimate personal relationship (or the victim’s intention to end it, or the offender’s belief about that), and
• the murder involved strangulation, suffocation or asphyxiation.

Why it matters: these are not “just” narrative points; they are now expressly written into the statutory analysis that can push minimum terms upwards in the right case.

4) Major Bills in progress: Crime and Policing Bill (introduced February 2025, still progressing)

The Crime and Policing Bill has been the flagship criminal justice Bill of the year, moving through Parliament with a very broad scope: anti-social behaviour, offensive weapons, sexual offences and exploitation, property offences, stalking/public order, police powers, confiscation and more.

Among the headline proposals highlighted in government factsheets are measures such as:

• a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, alongside changes intended to strengthen the response to shop theft/retail crime;
• new measures said to improve protections for emergency workers against racially or religiously aggravated behaviour; and
• further provisions spanning exploitation, public order, and offender management.

Why it matters: even before a Bill becomes law, it tends to influence policing priorities, charging discussions, and the broader “direction of travel” in sentencing and policy debates.

If enacted in 2026, practitioners will want to be ready for transitional provisions and commencement dates.

5) Sentencing Bill 2025: the next phase of sentencing reform (introduced September 2025)

Later in the year, the government introduced the Sentencing Bill, presented as a response to prison capacity pressures and the wider sentencing review agenda.

Proposals include, among other measures, changes to the rules around suspended sentences (including expanding the maximum custodial term that can be suspended).

Why it matters: if passed and commenced, the Bill is likely to affect the advice lawyers give at plea stage, particularly where the custody threshold is crossed but immediate custody can be avoided with robust proposals.

6) Case law spotlight: protest sentencing and “conscientious motivation”

One of the most widely discussed criminal appellate decisions of 2025 (for practitioners dealing with protest cases) is the Court of Appeal’s decision in R v Hallam and Others.

The case is frequently cited in discussion of sentences imposed in “serious disruption” protest prosecutions and how courts should handle arguments about proportionality and motivation.

Why it matters: this area remains fast-moving, fact-sensitive, and politically charged. Appellate guidance can quickly become the starting point for submissions on culpability, harm, and whether immediate custody is justified.

A quick practical checklist for 2026 preparation

As we move forward into 2026, there are plenty of things to bear in mind for criminal defence lawyers as the legal landscape continues to shift.

• Fraud/compliance: if you represent corporates, ensure policies and training are evidenced, current, and mapped to the “reasonable procedures” expectation.
• PSRs and mitigation: treat PSRs as strategically important – especially where custody is in play – and plan early (not at the door of court).
• Domestic homicide cases: build sentencing schedules with the updated statutory aggravating factors firmly in mind.
• Watch Parliament: if the Crime and Policing Bill and Sentencing Bill progress in 2026, commencement dates and transitional provisions will matter as much as the headlines.
• Backlog Issues: the courts are still facing huge backlogs of cases – the Government are looking at interventions to alleviate the issue – but to what extent will any new measures impede on the potential for a fair hearing to ensure justice is wholly served.

How We Can Help.

As always, we are on-hand to provide legal representation as and when required across Greater Manchester and the wider north west. call us now on 0161 477 1121 or email us.