Rape offences - consultation

Overview

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.

Sexual offences, including rape, are of public concern, and they account for a rising proportion of sentencing in the Scottish courts. These offences can involve a wide range of circumstances, and the guidelines are intended to assist courts in reaching what, at times, can be difficult sentencing decisions. By listing some of the factors that should be considered, we believe that the guidelines will help the court to determine sentences, and assist public understanding of how these decisions are reached.

A discussion paper, the draft guidelines, and draft impact assessments are linked below. The discussion paper provides background information about the guidelines and will assist you to answer the consultation survey. The questions refer directly to the draft guidelines.

We encourage you to respond to as many of the questions as you wish, or feel able, to answer, but it is not necessary to respond to them all.

The draft guidelines are intended to be read alongside the principles and purposes and sentencing process guidelines, and, where applicable, the sentencing young people guideline. They require to be approved by the High Court before coming into effect.

The consultation asks questions on the content of the guidance contained within the guidelines, and on their potential impacts.

Why your views matter

The Council is committed to carrying out public consultations on all our guidelines. This is a key part of the development process and we are keen to hear from all those with an interest in this work. We aim to engage with as wide and diverse an audience as possible in developing our guidelines to ensure that they are fit for purpose. This includes the wider public as well as criminal justice organisations, charities, academics, and other interested organisations.

If you are unable to respond to this consultation online, please contact the Scottish Sentencing Council to discuss alternative arrangements (by email at sentencingcouncil@scotcourts.gov.uk, by phone on 0300 790 0006, or by post at Scottish Sentencing Council, Parliament House, Parliament Square, Edinburgh, EH1 1RQ).

Consultation materials

The consultation paper, draft sentencing guidelines, and draft impact assessment are available for download:

Rape offences - consultation document

Rape - draft sentencing guideline

Rape of a young child - draft sentencing guideline

Rape - draft impact assessment

Rape of a young child - draft impact assessment

To respond to this consultation, please complete the survey below.

What happens next

The Council will publish an independent analysis of the responses to this consultation, as well as a consultation report, on our website once completed.

Respondents will have the choice to indicate whether they agree for their responses to be published with or without their name. Please note that this choice is applicable only to individual participants and not applicable to representatives of organisations who are participating in the consultation. Where confidentiality is sought it should be noted that the Scottish Sentencing Council is subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 so we may be required to release some information if requested, although this will be done without contravening the data protection principles in Articles 5(1) and 10 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and in sections 10(5) and 35(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.