Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission: Describing the Challenge

Chair’s Foreword

The Commission has been tasked with independently reviewing Scotland’s current approach to sentencing and penal policy and providing recommendations to inform change to our justice system. We started our work in February 2025.

So far, we have engaged widely with stakeholders—including legal professionals, law enforcement, victims’ groups, rehabilitation services, and those with lived experience— as well conducted a call for evidence to hear the views of all those with an interest in these matters.

Now we are issuing this short paper in an attempt to summarise some of the data around custodial and non-custodial sentences in Scotland, sentencing trends, and the evidence on the use of prison compared with other forms of punishment. It is not aimed primarily at those deeply engaged with this subject who will no doubt already know much that is contained. Its main aim is to highlight key issues and some high level statistical trends.

Scotland’s justice system plays a crucial role in protecting the public, ensuring fair treatment of individuals, and maintaining confidence in the rule of law. Sentencing and penal policy are key components of this system and it is very important that these are effective, fair and evidence based.

The use of prison has clear and valuable public purposes. Loss of liberty will always be a necessary punishment for those found guilty of some crimes to ensure they are held accountable and face the consequences of their actions. A custodial sentence also prevents those who pose a serious risk from causing further harm to their communities while in custody.

Prison should also play a critical role in supporting individuals to address the causes of their offending (e.g. addiction, trauma, mental health) and to prepare people for a return to society through education, skills development, and behavioural programmes. Unfortunately we have learned this is not working as effectively as it should be.

Scotland has one of the highest prison population rates in Western Europe, leading to severe overcrowding. Overcrowding makes prisons harder to manage and reduces the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes which in turn increases reoffending rates and makes our communities less safe.

The challenges facing the Scottish criminal justice system are multiple and interconnected. What happens in one area or part of the process can affect other areas. Policies and decisions about one person or group (e.g. those being sentenced in court or released from prison) can affect others (e.g. victims families, practitioners, and communities). Discussing these challenges and the need for change, can evoke strongly held and deeply felt views.

We are in the process of listening to those views. This will inform our work to consider how the currently available imprisonment and community-based interventions are used across Scotland, what works well and what could be improved upon. While Government and their justice system partners have at various points over the years taken steps to reduce the prison population, any work which only looks at options for the short to medium term is unlikely to fundamentally change that picture.

To this end, we are considering how Scotland can ensure that custody is only used when absolutely necessary and look to find a prison population which is sustainable to allow for much needed work within prison to reduce and prevent behaviours that lead to reoffending.

It is important that sentences and penal measures should contribute to long-term crime reduction by addressing the root causes of offending through rehabilitation, education, and support services. We will explore alternatives to custody while recognising that prison will always be necessary for some offenders.

Throughout all of this work, it will be critical to respect and protect the interests of victims and ensure we are working towards creating safer communities for all our citizens. I also recognise the need for sentencing and penal policies that are fair and equitable, considering factors such as mental health, addiction, gender, and socio-economic circumstances to prevent disproportionate impacts on marginalised groups.

It is important to note that there have also been early indications to the Commission that the criminal justice system in Scotland does have services and policies that are particularly positive. Our Commission will look to highlight these. There is a clear national strategy ‘Equally Safe: Vision for Women in Custody’ which takes a trauma-informed, gender-specific, and holistic approach. Scotland has some pioneering custody units for women. Scotland has also committed to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law and the Sentencing Council has published guidelines for those under 25.

Once the Commission concludes its work, we will set out our proposals for change. We will make recommendations for improvements in how offending behaviours can be dealt with in the most effective and proportionate ways, to ensure less crime, fewer victims, and safer communities.

Martyn Evans

Chair of the independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission