Mitigating Factor
A circumstance that reduces the seriousness of an offence or the culpability of the offender for sentencing purposes, such as remorse, mental disorder, good character, or provocation.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
When assessing how serious an offence is for sentencing, section 63 of the Sentencing Act 2020 requires a court to consider both the offender's culpability in committing the offence and the harm the offence caused, was intended to cause, or might foreseeably have caused. Mitigating factors are matters that lessen culpability or harm and so tend to reduce the sentence that would otherwise be passed.
The clearest statutory example is a guilty plea: under section 73 of the Sentencing Act 2020, a court determining sentence for an offender who has pleaded guilty must take into account the stage in proceedings at which the guilty plea was indicated and the circumstances in which it was given, which in practice produces a reduction in sentence. Other mitigating factors — such as genuine remorse, previous good character, or mental disorder — are applied through sentencing guidelines rather than a single statutory list.
Related terms
Official sources
This explanation is drawn from the official sources below; every substantive statement is verified against them. For advice on a specific matter, see our find help page.