Information

Scottish Parliament election: 7 May. This site won't be routinely updated during the pre-election period.

Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission: Describing the Challenge

This short paper outlines the work of the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission. It highlights key issues facing Scotland’s justice system and presents high-level statistical trends on the country’s prison population and sentencing practices.


Reference list

1.Audit Scotland. Scottish Prison Service 2022/23 Annual Audit Report. 2022.

2.Scottish Human Rights Commission & National Preventive Mechanism. Review, Recommend, Repeat: An Assessment of Where Human Rights Have Stalled in Places of Detention. 2024.

3.Scottish Government. Scottish Prison Population Statistics 2023-24 Bulletin. 2024.

4.Scottish Government. Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2025. 2025.

5.Scottish Government. Prison Population Projections: April 2025 Edition. 2025.

6.HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland. A Thematic Review of Prisoner Progression in Scottish Prisons. 2024.

7.Scottish Prison Service. Annual Reports and Accounts 2023-2024. 2024.

8.Aebi, M.F., & Cocco, E. SPACE I - 2023: Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics – Prison Populations. Council of Europe, 2024.

9.Armstrong, S., Allan, L., Cobain, R., Russo, D., & Barkas, B. Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and Their Investigation in Scotland – 2024. Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, 2025.

10.Aebi, M.F., & Cocco, E. Prisons and Prisoners in Europe 2023: Key Findings of the SPACE I Report. Council of Europe & University of Lausanne, 2024.

11.Scottish Government. Occasional Paper: Long-Term Drivers of and Changes in the Prison Population. 2025.

12.Scottish Government. Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2023-24. 2024.

13.Scottish Government. Criminal Proceedings in Scotland: 2022-23. 2024.

14.Matthews, B. Where Have All the Young Offenders Gone? University of Edinburgh, 2014.

15.Matthews, B., & Minton, J. “Rethinking One of Criminology’s ‘Brute Facts’: The Age–Crime Curve and the Crime Drop in Scotland.” European Journal of Criminology, 2018, 15(3), pp. 296–320.

16.Scottish Government. Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: May 2025. 2025.

17.Scottish Prison Service. SPS Quarterly Public Information Page: Prison by Numbers Quarter 3 (October–December 2024). 2025.

18.Scottish Prison Service. Prisoner Survey 2024. 2025.

19.Scottish Government. Understanding the Needs of Scotland’s Prison Population: A Synthesis Report. 2022.

20.Scottish Government. Decision-Making on Bail and Remand in Scotland: Final Report. Scottish Government Social Research, 2023.

21.Skellington Orr, K., Wilson Smith, E., & Barry, M. Decision-Making on Bail and Remand in Scotland: Interim Findings Report. 2022.

22.HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland. ‘Planned Failure’: A Thematic Review of Prisoner Transport Services in Scotland. 2024.

23.Audit Scotland. Criminal Courts Backlog. 2023.

24.Miller, E., & Barrie, K. Setting the Bar for Social Work in Scotland. Social Work Scotland, 2022.

25.Scottish Government. What Works to Reduce Reoffending: A Summary of the Evidence. 2015.

26.Ministry of Justice. Reducing Reoffending: A Synthesis of Evidence on Effectiveness of Interventions. 2025.

27.McNeill, F., & Schinkel, M. “Prisons and Desistance.” In: Jewkes, Y., Crewe, B., & Bennett, J. (Eds.), Handbook on Prisons. Routledge, 2016, pp. 607–621.

28.Community Justice Scotland. Community Justice Outcome Activity Annual Report 2023-2024. 2025.

29.Van Zyl Smit, D., & Morrison, K. “The Paradox of Scottish Life Imprisonment.” European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 2020, 28(1), pp. 76–101.

30.Ormston, R., Diaz, A., Millar, C., & Simpson, E. National Care Service Justice: Social Work Research. 2024.

31.HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland. HM Chief Inspector’s Annual Report 2023-2024. 2024.

32.Community Justice Scotland. Written Evidence Submission to the Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee. 2024.

33.Community Justice Scotland. CJS Evidence to Committee on Pre-Budget Scrutiny. 2024.

34.Scottish Government. Reconviction Rates in Scotland: 2020-21 Offender Cohort. 2024.

35.Scottish Government. Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24: Main Findings. 2025.

36.Black, C., Warren, R., Ormston, R., & Tata, C. Public Perceptions of Sentencing: National Survey Report. Ipsos MORI Scotland for the Scottish Sentencing Council, 2019.

37.Brooks-Hay, O., Burman, M., & Glinkski, J. Victim-Survivor Views and Experiences of Sentencing for Rape and Other Sexual Offences. Scottish Sentencing Council & University of Glasgow, 2024.

38.Lombard, N., & Rennie, E. Exploring Views on Sentencing for Domestic Abuse in Scotland. Scottish Sentencing Council & Glasgow Caledonian University, 2024.

39.Scottish Government. Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour Review Report. 2025.

Contact

Email: ScottishSentencingCommission@gov.scot

Back to top