Council releases report exploring unwarranted disparities
The Council has released a new research report, Exploring unwarranted disparities in sentencing in Scotland.
The research, conducted by academics from the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Surrey and Leeds, focusses on the consistency of sentencing in Scottish courts.
The report examines unwarranted disparities and how they can be reduced, while also highlighting the need to develop new sources of in-depth and meaningful data on sentencing patterns.
The authors found that high quality data is essential to: the promotion of consistency in sentencing; the informed development of sentencing policy; and efforts to inform public knowledge and awareness of (and so confidence in) sentencing and the independent judiciary.