Council publishes consultation report on draft guidelines for rape offences

The Council has published a response to its public consultation on draft sentencing guidelines for rape offences.

These guidelines are developed to assist the courts in reaching sentencing decisions for these offences. As part of that development process, the Council held a public consultation on the draft guidelines to gather views from a range of people. It has now carefully considered all of the responses received. Following this, a number of changes have been made in finalising the guidelines.

There are two separate guidelines. One covers rape, and the other covers the rape of a young child under the age of 13. The finalised guidelines will now be submitted to the High Court for approval. If they are approved, either as submitted or with changes, they will come into effect on a date set by the court, and be published on the Council’s website.

All of the sentencing options provided within the guidelines remain long-term, custodial sentences. In view of the Council’s consideration of all the evidence, which includes sentencing practice as recently set out by the Appeal Court, some of the sentencing ranges in each guideline have been increased. In the guideline on sentencing rape, these now start at 5 years’ imprisonment, while in the rape of a young child sentencing guideline, they start at 7 years’ imprisonment. A number of the higher ranges have been increased within each respective guideline. The highest points of the sentencing ranges remain at 13 years for rape and 14 years for rape of a young child. The options of extended sentences, and orders for lifelong restriction (a form of life sentence) remain.

Other key changes include the removal of specific mitigating factors (which may lead to a less severe sentence). The guidelines instead refer users to the mitigating factors listed for all offences within the Council’s guideline on the sentencing process. The Council considered the matter carefully and has taken the view that there are no mitigating factors sufficiently specific to the offence of rape which merit emphasis in these guidelines. However, courts will continue to take any mitigating factors relevant to a particular case into account where appropriate.

A further section addressing how non-harassment orders operate has been introduced, as well as a number of clarifications to help assist general understanding of certain features of seriousness. These include examples of an abuse of trust, and psychological harm and trauma. The report sets out the rationale for all of the decisions taken.

The Chair of the Council, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Beckett, said: “These are serious offences of great concern to the public. The guidelines are intended to assist judges in determining appropriate sentences and will help to enhance consistency and predictability in sentencing. They will provide greater understanding as to how sentencing decisions are reached for those involved, or interested, in such cases, including victims and offenders.

“They have been developed with an evidence-based approach, which has included wide-ranging engagement, analysis of relevant sentences imposed by the Scottish courts, commissioned research projects including a national survey, and a report exploring the views of victims.

“The public consultation was a significant part of the development process, and we are grateful to all of those who took the time to participate. Each response has been independently analysed, and carefully considered by the Council, before final decisions were taken.”

The full public consultation report and views submitted, are available here.