Lord President speaks on sentencing

Lord Carloway, a former Council Chair, spoke yesterday of the Council’s role in sentencing when he delivered the speech, 'Imprisonment in Scotland: towards a penological post-modernism’ to the Scottish Universities Insight Institute.

He said: “The Sentencing Council is charged with promoting consistency in sentencing, assisting the development of sentencing policy and promoting greater awareness and understanding in sentencing practice and policy. It will prepare sentencing guidelines for approval by the High Court, following consultation with the Scottish Ministers and the Lord Advocate. Once approved, the court must have regard to any sentencing guidelines. The guidelines will not have binding status, and a court may decline to follow them but it must state its reason for doing so.

"The Council has only just been established and it will be interesting to monitor its progress. One immediate issue will be setting its starting point. Should it target specific offences or offenders? Time will tell.”

Lord Carloway, who was the Council’s inaugural Chair, tracked sentencing approaches against the trajectory of Scottish criminal justice, discussing modern trends and describing how the range of disposals available in Scotland is currently used.

The Council follows academic discussion of sentencing in Scotland and welcomes input from a range of sources. For feedback or more information please contact the Council.