23. (1) The Council shall—

(a) establish a committee to be known as the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee, and

(b) at the first meeting of the Council, specify the date upon which that Committee shall stand established which shall be a date not later than 6 months following that first meeting.

(2) Subject to this section and such directions (if any) as the Council may give to it, the functions of the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee shall be to—

(a) prepare and submit to the Board for its review draft sentencing guidelines,

(b) prepare and submit to the Board for its review draft amendments to sentencing guidelines adopted by the Council,

(c) monitor the operation of sentencing guidelines,

(d) collate, in such manner as it considers appropriate, information on sentences imposed by the courts, and

(e) disseminate that information from time to time to judges and persons other than judges.

(3) The Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee, and any person authorised by it to act on its behalf, may, for the purpose of performing its functions, make arrangements with the Courts Service to—

(a) have access to court documents relating to criminal proceedings, and

(b) take and retain copies of such documents.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee may—

(a) consult with such persons as the Committee considers appropriate for the purpose of preparing draft sentencing guidelines, or draft amendments to sentencing guidelines, for adoption by the Council,

(b) collate information on decisions of the courts relating to sentences,

(c) conduct research on sentences imposed by the courts,

(d) disseminate decisions of the courts relating to sentences,

(e) prepare and disseminate information on such decisions and other materials relevant to its functions, and

(f) organise conferences, seminars and meetings relevant to its functions.

(5) Any information disseminated under subsection (4) shall not disclose the names of the parties to the proceedings concerned that are the subject of the decisions of the courts concerned or the identity of any person who is named in, or is identifiable from, a document referred to in subsection (3) that is used for the purposes of subsection (4) except where such disclosure is required—

(a) by a judge for the purposes of the exercise of his or her judicial functions in proceedings before him or her, or

(b) pursuant to an order of a court under subsection (6).

(6) A court may, on application in that behalf, in any criminal proceedings, if it considers that it is necessary in the interests of justice to do so, order that the requirement in subsection (5) not to disclose the names of parties to proceedings shall not apply in relation to specified decisions of the courts for the purposes of submissions to the court in relation to the sentence to be imposed in those proceedings and the determination by the court of that sentence.

(7) An order of a court under subsection (6) shall be limited in its effect to any barrister or solicitor representing a party to the proceedings concerned.

(8) The Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee shall prepare and submit to the Council, for inclusion in the annual report of the Council under section 37, a report in writing of the activities of the Committee during the period to which the annual report relates.

(9) In this section references to information shall include references to information in electronic or other forms.