Sentencing guidelines
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Sentencing guidelines are non-binding independent agency recommendations that inform sentencing in law. "The Sentencing Guidelines enumerate aggravating and mitigating circumstances, assign scores based on a defendant's criminal record and based on the seriousness of the crime, and specify a range of punishments for each crime."
By contrast, mandatory sentencing sets legal parameters, typically minimums, for sentences. When a court orders an individual to serve "four months" in prison then the entire sentence imposed is "four months", regardless if the maximum sentence is higher in the advisory sentencing guidelines.
In the United States federal courts system, Federal Sentencing Guidelines apply to federal judges adjudicating cases in federal courts.
In England and Wales, the Sentencing Council (formerly the Sentencing Guidelines Council) sets sentencing guidelines, and in Scotland the Scottish Sentencing Council holds this responsibility.