Scottish Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission report: Justice That Works

Annex A: Background and process

In February 2025, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Angela Constance MSP, announced the appointment of Martyn Evans as Chair and five Commissioners to the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission.

The purpose of this independent Commission was “to consider how imprisonment and community-based interventions are currently used in Scotland and ensure that Scotland has a sustainable prison population.” The Commission was asked to make detailed and actionable recommendations by the end of the year for improvements in how offending behaviour could be dealt with in an effective and proportionate way with the underlying aim of ensuring less crime, fewer victims, and safer communities.

The remit of the Commission set out that it should initially focus on community sentencing, bail and remand, and release from custody but it could consider such other areas as it deemed necessary in fulfilling its purpose. Upon reflection, Commissioners considered it was important to address matters further upstream, so in addition to these areas the report has a focus on prevention, and alternatives to court proceedings.

The Review was led by a diverse group of Commissioners, each bringing their own unique expertise and perspectives:

• Martyn Evans, Chair
• Catherine Dyer, Chair of Community Justice Scotland and former Crown Agent, COPFS
• Cathy Jamieson, former Minister for Justice
• Sheriff David Mackie
• Dr Hannah Graham, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Stirling
• Lynsey Smith, Assistant Chief Officer for Operations and Governance Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership

Evidence gathering and engagement

Since its launch in February 2025, the Commission conducted an extensive investigation into how imprisonment and community-based interventions are used in Scotland. The Commission engaged widely to ensure the work captured real-world experiences and accurately reflected the issues raised across different professions, interest groups, and individuals across the nation.

• We visited local authorities across Scotland, speaking to community justice partners and co-ordinators, justice social workers and third sector providers;
• Held invaluable roundtable discussions, including with victims organisations, academics, and third sector organisations;
• Listened to those with lived experience of the criminal justice system and the issues addressed in this report;
• Learned from professionals and practitioners including social workers, members of the judiciary and legal professionals;
• Attended informative visits including to a range of prisons in the male and female estates, courts, and service providers across Scotland and the UK;
• Spoke to key justice partners and discussed issues with academic experts, researchers, and private sector providers.

We held a public Call for Evidence, which received 101 submissions from 48 individuals and 53 organisations. Respondents included victim advocacy groups, legal professionals, law enforcement agencies, the third sector, rehabilitation services, academics, and individuals with lived experience. A separate report providing an analysis of responses has been published separately.

The Commission also took account of the various reports and recommendations relevant to the justice sector since the publication of Scotland’s Choice: The Report of the Scottish Prisons Commission (2008) and the Commission on Women Offenders (2012) Angiolini report. We did not seek to duplicate the work which informed these reports but instead sought to build on these, to consider why particular recommendations were not taken forward or may not have been sufficiently impactful and take account of new developments in legislation and practice. We are grateful to all those involved in writing these important reports.

A broad body of academic work also helped explain how sentencing and penal systems operate and why they produce the outcomes they do and we are grateful to the authors.

Report and recommendations

Many of the Commission’s recommendations are directed to the Scottish Government because it controls the main levers of change: legislation, national policy, funding, and cross-sector coordination. Justice agencies and NDPBs contribute expertise and deliver services, but ministers decide priorities and the overall direction of reform.

We consider that costing of recommendations as well as their exact impact on the prison population is a matter for the Scottish Government who possess the relevant analytical and financial resources that were not available to the Commission. We have given an indication of likely lead partners for our recommendations but this is meant to be indicative and it may be that other partners are best-placed for some of these.

We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed their time, insights, and experiences. These have been instrumental in shaping our recommendations.