Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission: call for evidence

Foreword

Scotland’s justice system plays a crucial role in keeping us safe, providing us all with a sense of security, ensuring fairness, and upholding the rule of law. Sentencing and penal policy are key components of this system, shaping how we address crime, punish criminality, deliver justice to victims, and manage people who have offended both in the community and in prison.

However, our system is facing a substantial challenge. Despite a significant drop in recorded crime—down 40 percent since 2006-07— in Scotland we have one of the highest rates of imprisonment in Western Europe. This has several significant and detrimental impacts. It leads to overcrowding in our prisons. It reduces the effectiveness of reoffending programmes and therefore rehabilitation. It results in an unnecessarily negative experience for too many of those that work there. It also has wider effects on the rest of the justice system, such as our courts, and ultimately our communities.

The Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission has been established to independently review Scotland’s current approach to sentencing and penal policy and provide recommendations to inform action and change. The Commission offers a chance to build on previous work and rethink our justice system – a considerable and necessary task.

We are calling for evidence to gather the widest range of perspectives and innovative ideas with a focus on key parts of our remit: community sentencing, bail and remand, and release from custody. The evidence you provide will play a pivotal role in considering how Scotland can achieve an effective, rehabilitative justice system, meaning less crime and fewer victims in future.

Thank you for your time and contributions to this vital Commission. Your insights will be instrumental in shaping our recommendations and achieving lasting change.

Martyn Evans

Chair of the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission