Consultation Hub

The Scottish Sentencing Council is committed to carrying out public consultations on all draft guidelines prior to their introduction. This site provides a simple, online system for responding to these consultations, as well as hosting the Council's responses to closed consultations.

All of our current consultations are listed below. Details on our previous consultation on the principles and purposes of sentencing can be found here.

Closed Consultations

  • Rape offences - consultation

    The Scottish Sentencing Council is preparing two guidelines on offences of rape. The first is on rape, and the second is on rape of a young child. We believe that these guidelines will bring benefits to the courts, to those involved in such cases, and to the wider public. ...

    Closed 18 October 2024

  • Death by Driving Public Consultation

    Cases involving causing death by driving offences, as with any cases involving the loss of life, are of particular public concern and can be among the most serious and complex which come before the courts for sentence. We believe a guideline will provide an opportunity to assist...

    Closed 22 November 2022

  • 'Sentencing young people' guideline consultation

    This consultation seeks your views on the sentencing of young people. The sentencing of young people is complex and challenging. It generally requires a more individualistic approach, with a need to take the unique personal circumstances of the young person into account. For example, many...

    Closed 21 August 2020

  • The Sentencing Process

    On a daily basis, criminal courts throughout Scotland impose sentences on offenders. However, the sentencing process itself is not always fully understood by the public. We therefore believe that a guideline on the sentencing process will help to increase public knowledge and understanding of how...

    Closed 6 September 2019