Short-term prisoner release point: responses to targeted consultation
The Scottish Government ran a targeted consultation seeking views on changing the automatic early release point for certain short-term prisoners. The responses to the targeted consultation have been published where permission has been given to publish the response.
Response from the Scottish Sentencing Council
The Scottish Sentencing Council notes the Scottish Government’s intention to legislate to change the point of release for short-term prisoners.
As the Council has indicated in previous statements on measures intended to address the prison population, the Council’s remit does not extend to penal policy and as such it offers no comment on the merits or otherwise of the proposals, or on the basis on which they are made. The legislative arrangements for release are matters for the Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament. As the Council has indicated previously, the selection of an appropriate custodial sentence does not generally take into account the actual, likely or potential release dates from custody. Were courts to do so this could defeat the purpose of legislation around prisoner release and might undermine consistency in sentencing, should the legislative arrangements change again.
The Council reiterates the comments it has made previously in response to proposals intended to address the prison population. As before, these are made with the interaction between sentencing and release policy in mind, to the extent that these are connected, and in the spirit of the pursuit of its statutory objectives.
The Council understands that the Government’s intention is to ensure a sustainable approach to reform in this area. It further notes that the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission has now issued its final report. The Council is considering the detail of that report and will be interested to learn of the Government’s response to it.
Research commissioned by the Council has found that release arrangements overall, and the reasons for releasing prisoners before the end of their sentence, are frequently opaque to members of the public, as well as to those affected by offending behaviour.[26]
Per the Council’s previously stated position, the need to provide timely, accurate and appropriate information to the public generally, and to those involved in criminal proceedings specifically, remains vital.