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  1. Home
  2. Sentencing guidelines
  3. Guidelines in development

Guidelines in development

Below can be found a list of our guidelines which are currently being developed. To view the progress of the guideline you can click on it, or to learn more about the stages of guideline development click here.

*After the completion of stage 7, all approved guidelines move onto stage 8, the monitoring and review stage.

Stage 1 - Initial consideration of the guideline topic Stage 2 - Development of a draft guideline Stage 3 - Seeking the views of judges Stage 4 - Consulting on the guideline Stage 5 - Finalising the guideline Stage 6 - Submitting the guideline for approval Stage 7 - Raising awareness about the guideline Stage 8 - Monitoring and review
Rape
Domestic abuse
Sexual assault
Indecent images of children
Sentencing After a Guilty Plea
Environmental and wildlife crime
Statutory offences of causing death by driving
Sentencing young people
The sentencing process
Principles and purposes of sentencing

Rape

The Council is currently developing sentencing guidelines on sexual offences in relation to rape, sexual assault, and indecent images of children.

Current Stage: 4

Domestic abuse

The Domestic Abuse Working Group Committee will support the Council in its preparation of a sentencing guideline or guidelines on domestic abuse offences. 

Current Stage: 2

Sexual assault

The Council is currently developing sentencing guidelines on sexual offences in relation to rape, sexual assault, and indecent images of children.

Current Stage: 2

Indecent images of children

The Council is currently developing sentencing guidelines on sexual offences in relation to rape, sexual assault, and indecent images of children.

Current Stage: 2

Sentencing After a Guilty Plea

We believe a guideline on sentence discounting where a guilty plea has been tendered presents significant opportunities to improve public understanding of sentencing and to assist with predictability.

Current Stage: 2

Environmental and wildlife crime

We believe that a guideline addressing environmental and wildlife offences would be of public benefit, these being matters of particular significance to Scottish communities and indeed the Scottish economy.

Current Stage: 1

Statutory offences of causing death by driving

Death by driving offences are of significant public concern and, involving loss of life, are very serious in nature. The circumstances of these cases can be incredibly complex, often requiring sentencers to make difficult assessments about the level of an offender’s culpability (which can vary significantly) in relation to the serious harm caused. We believe that a guid...View More

Current Stage: 8

Sentencing young people

As well as there being specific statutory arrangements in place, sentencing of younger people often requires a more individualistic approach, taking into account the particular personal characteristics of the young person concerned. For example, depending on the age and maturity of the young person, their culpability in relation to the offence might be lower than that o...View More

Current Stage: 8

The sentencing process

The sentencing process guideline sets out an eight-step process for the sentencing of offenders, explaining how courts arrive at sentencing decisions and what may be taken into account, such as the seriousness of the offence and any aggravating or mitigating factors. The Council believes this will help to improve current knowledge and understanding around sentencing.View More

Current Stage: 8

Principles and purposes of sentencing

The sentencing process guideline sets out an eight-step process for the sentencing of offenders, explaining how courts arrive at sentencing decisions and what may be taken into account, such as the seriousness of the offence and any aggravating or mitigating factors. The Council believes this will help to improve current knowledge and understanding around sentencing.View More

Current Stage: 8

Notes

In its latest business plan the Council announced that its focus will turn to offence guidelines and confirmed its intention to prepare a sentencing guideline on domestic abuse offences.

Work will continue on the development of guidelines for death by driving, the sexual offences of rape, indecent images of children, and sexual assault, as well as on sentence discounting. It is also planned to resume work on an environmental and wildlife offences guideline.

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Scottish Sentencing Council, Parliament House, Edinburgh, EH1 1RQ

Tel: 0300 790 0006 Email: sentencingcouncil@scotcourts.gov.uk
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