WIREDGOV

New body will provide clear sentencing guidelines for Scotland.

A date has been announced for the establishment of the new Scottish Sentencing Council (SSC).

The Scottish Government has confirmed that the SSC will be established by October this year with a view to having a first meeting in November.

The objectives of the Council are to promote consistency and transparency in sentencing practice, assist in developing sentencing policy and encourage better understanding of sentences across Scotland.

The SSC will also be responsible for producing sentencing guidelines for the judiciary.

The Scottish Sentencing Council will be chaired by the Lord Justice Clerk and will include five other judicial office holders, three legal members, a police officer, a victims’ representative and another non-judicial member.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said:

“We want to ensure that Scotland continues to have the most transparent criminal justice system possible.

“Sentencing can be an extremely complicated and emotive issue and the creation of the new Scottish Sentencing Council will offer greater clarity and openness around why and how sentences are decided while giving the public a better understanding of the process.

“By outlining the purposes and key principles that underpin judicial decision making, we can increase the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system and continue to ensure fair and appropriate sentences are delivered for the people of Scotland.

“While the Scottish Sentencing Council will create sentencing guidelines we continue to recognise that an independent judiciary is the fundamental cornerstone of the Scottish criminal justice system and the significant importance of judicial discretion in individual sentencing decisions.” 

The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Carloway said: “I welcome the progress being made towards establishing the Scottish Sentencing Council. 

“The creation of the Council, with its responsibility to prepare guidelines to assist the courts in sentencing and to describe the potential effects of those guidelines, will help to ensure a consistent and coherent approach to sentencing practice and policy in Scotland. 

“It will also assist the public, by providing information on sentencing matters and by improving understanding and awareness of the sentencing process.

“Importantly, the founding legislation provides for a broad and inclusive range of experience across the Council membership. This will place it in good stead for carrying out the significant tasks ahead.”

Notes To Editors

Once established it will be for the Scottish Sentencing Council to decide how best to meet its objectives. However legislation put in place by the Scottish Parliament sets out the functions of the SSC, including to:

• Produce guidelines covering areas of sentencing
• Support research and academic work relevant to its remit
• Collate and publish information on sentencing decisions (this may include how sentencing guidelines have been applied by the courts)
• Publish information about sentencing

All proposals for sentencing guidelines from the Council will be considered by the High Court of Justiciary for approval.

Accommodation and administrative support to the Council will be provided by the Scottish Court Service.

The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2014: One Scotland, published in November 2014, confirmed that the Scottish Sentencing Council would be established before the end of the current parliament, in May 2016.