News

The Council recently hosted the inaugural Scottish Sentencing Research Symposium, an event which welcomed experts from across the UK to offer perspectives on sentencing research.  

A full report of the event has now been published on the Council website, along with presentations from the various speakers.

A report by the Scottish Sentencing Council has captured the views of various justice professionals who attended a stakeholder event on community sentencing.

Writing in the Council’s 2021-22 annual report, which was published and laid before the Scottish Parliament on 12 October 2022, Lady Dorrian recognised the significance of the two guidelines developed by the Council which cover the process of sentencing, and sentencing young people.

The Scottish Sentencing Council, having completed a suite of general guidelines which apply to all offences in Scotland, is now moving to a new phase of work. In its 2021-24 Business Plan, published today, the Council announced that its focus will now turn to offence guidelines and confirmed its intention to prepare a sentencing guideline on domestic abuse offences.

Significant progress was made by the Scottish Sentencing Council in the development of sentencing guidelines in 2020-21 despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its Chair, Lady Dorrian, the Lord Justice Clerk.