Paris's Law

The petition asked the Government to “introduce legislation so that defendants charged with controlling or coercive behaviour cannot receive a sentencing reduction for a guilty plea entered after initially pleading not guilty”, and for this to be known as Paris's Law.

As worded, the proposal concerns people who first plead not guilty and change their plea later. It does not ask for any change for people who plead guilty from the outset.

• Source: UK Parliament petition 764553(opens in a new tab)

In England and Wales, people who plead guilty are usually entitled to a reduction in their sentence. This is set out in section 73 of the Sentencing Act 2020, and courts must follow the Sentencing Council's guilty plea guideline unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice.

Under that guideline, the usual reduction is one third for a plea indicated at the first stage of proceedings. After that it is one quarter, falling on a sliding scale to a maximum of one tenth on the first day of trial, and normally lower still — even to zero — if the plea comes during the trial. There are some limited exceptions.

Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship is a criminal offence under section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment. The same guilty plea rules apply to it as to other offences.

• Source: House of Commons Library briefing CBP-12217(opens in a new tab)
• Source: Sentencing Council: Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea guideline(opens in a new tab)

Reductions for guilty pleas are intended to encourage people who know they are guilty to plead early, saving court time and sparing victims and witnesses from having to give evidence. When a plea comes only at the last moment, a survivor may already have spent many months preparing for trial.

The petition describes how a late change of plea “can feel like continued abuse, prolonging distress and undermining justice”. The campaign argues that, in coercive control cases, this should not be rewarded with a reduction in sentence.

The Government's view, set out in its response to the petition, is that a later plea can still spare victims from giving evidence, and that it already attracts a substantially lower reduction.

• Source: UK Parliament petition 764553(opens in a new tab)

Paris Shears began the campaign after her own experience of the justice process. She spent more than 530 days preparing to give evidence, and on the day the trial was due to begin the defendant changed his plea to guilty. The trial did not go ahead.

She started a UK Parliament petition setting out the change she wanted to see, and named it Paris's Law. It was published on 21 April 2026.

• Source: UK Parliament petition 764553(opens in a new tab)

On 19 October 2026 MPs debated e-petition 764553 in Westminster Hall. The debate was held on a motion “That this House has considered e-petition 764553”, which was agreed. A debate of this kind puts an issue on the record; it does not pass or change any law.

Responding for the Government, the minister said the Government was “not currently persuaded” that removing guilty plea reductions for this one offence would best serve victims, describing this as “an ongoing conversation”. He also set out wider measures to support victims.

• Source: Hansard: Westminster Hall debate, 19 October 2026(opens in a new tab)