Short custodial disposals from court and the prison population
This paper investigates the relationship between custodial sentences of less than 12 months issued by courts and the number of people in prison serving sentences of less than 12 months.
This document was updated on the 23rd of January 2025. A number of changes throughout providing clearer discussion of prison statistics, references for the definition of sentence length measurements, and consistent description of sentence length bands. Information about the number of those arriving sentenced after their disposal with additional remand warrants was added. Summary section on the website and a sentence on Methods section changed to clarify that paper investigates custodial sentences of less than 12 months.
The aim of this paper is to explore available data sources to investigate how the number of sentences of less than 12 months issued by courts relates to the overall sentences being served by people in prison. This comparison will help illustrate the complexity of the cohort of people receiving custodial sentences of < 12 months from court.
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Email: justice_analysts@gov.scot
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