home
Skip to content
  • About us
    • About us
    • Aims and accountability
    • Who we are
    • Meetings
    • Committees
    • Recruitment
    • FAQ
  • Sentencing information
    • Sentencing information
    • Introduction to sentencing
    • How do courts decide a sentence?
    • Community sentences
    • Custodial sentences
    • Maximum and minimum sentences
    • Disposals and appeals
    • Information for victims
  • Sentencing guidelines
    • Sentencing guidelines
    • Approved guidelines
    • Guidelines in development
    • How are sentencing guidelines developed?
    • About sentencing guidelines
  • Publications
    • Publications
    • Guideline judgments
    • Sentencing Statements
  • Research and engagement
    • Research and engagement
    • Consultations
    • Research
    • Engagement
  • Education resources
    • Education resources
    • Jargon buster
    • Myth buster
    • 'If you were the judge' case studies
    • Lectures and lesson plans
  • News and media
    • News and media
    • News
    • Scottish Sentencing Conversations Podcast
    • Spotlight on Sentencing Blog
    • Spotlight on Sentencing Circular
    • Videos
    • Contact us
  • ?
  • A-Z
Scottish Sentencing Council Logo
  1. Home
  2. Sentencing guidelines
  3. Methodology
  4. Stage 3

Stage 3 - Seeking the views of judges

We need to have discussions with the judges affected by the guideline. This is essential to ensuring that guidelines are useful and will help sentencers. This will help us to understand current sentencing practice.

 

It will also highlight any areas of difficulty where judges think guidance would be helpful. The judges’ views will also be important once we have started to draft a guideline. This will help us to refine our approach and make sure the guideline is as helpful and usable as possible.

We will gather the views of the judges through a variety of methods. This might include, for example, testing what the draft guideline says and how it will be used with small groups of judges. We will also discuss with judges the issues surrounding particular types of offence or offender, as well as sentencing matters more generally.

We may also ask judges for their views during the development stage of guideline preparation, to explore where guidelines would be of particular assistance to them. This might include focus groups, formal discussion papers, in-depth interviews and larger group discussions.

What we learn from the judges may lead to revisions to the draft guideline before the next stage in the process.

 

Previous stage                           Next stage

Contact us/ media enquiries

 

Social media policy

 

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

Tel: 0300 790 0006 Email: sentencingcouncil@scotcourts.gov.uk
Follow us on social:
  • Accessibility
  • Complaints
  • Cookies
  • © Crown Copyright
  • FAQs
  • Jargon Buster
  • Privacy
  • Site Map
  • Useful links