Sentencing and release from prison: the Custodial Sentences and Weapons Act

Cyrus Tata, Douglas Thomson

Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

Abstract

In their last significant act before the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections, the then ruling Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition secured the passing into law of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007, known as "CSAW". The Act was passed as a result of public and political concern over what is seen as a lack of honesty in sentencing, in that under current sentencing provisions1 the person sentenced rarely spends the period specified in the sentence in custody. There has therefore been a considerable degree of public concern over cases where persons released on licence for serious offences have committed further offences before the expiry of the total sentence, creating the perception that sentences do not mean what they say.
Original languageEnglish
Pages57
Number of pages11
Volume401
Specialist publicationSCOLAG Journal
Publication statusPublished - 31 Mar 2011

Keywords

  • sentencing
  • prison
  • release
  • custodial sentences
  • Custodial Sentences and Weapons Act

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