Scottish Government

The Sentencing Commission for Scotland, Chaired by the late Rt Hon Lord Macfadyen, was an independent body which sat between 2003 and 2006 and was established by the Scottish Executive under its then policy statement " A Partnership for a Better Scotland." The Commission's remit was to review and make recommendations to the Scottish Executive on:

• the use of bail and remand;
• the arrangements for early release from prison and the supervision of short-term prisoners on their release;
• the basis on which fines are determined;
• the effectiveness of sentences in reducing re-offending;
• the scope to improve consistency of sentencing.

The Commission published four reports on the use of bail and remand (2005), the law governing early release from prison and the supervision of prisoners on their release (2005), the basis on which fines are determined (2006) and the scope to improve consistency in sentencing (2006).