Sentencing shake-up plea

There are calls for more alternative sentences

The Scottish Executive will be asked to make radical changes to the way offenders are dealt with by the courts.

A report from Scottish Consortium on Crime and Criminal Justice says prisons are failing offenders, their victims and the communities they live in.

It recommends that greater emphasis should be placed on making offenders see the impact of their crime on the victim.

The consortium argues that prison is the most expensive sanction available to Scottish courts and that making offenders do something for the community is much more beneficial.

We also want to involve whole comunities in the fight against crime and that's why we are supporting more community-based sentences which remove minor offenders from the prison system

Scottish Executive spokesman

The Scottish Executive said it supports the idea of "restorative justice" and wants more community-based sentencing for some offences.

The consortium brings together organisations like offenders charity Apex Scotland, the Scottish Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders and Victim Support Scotland.

It commissioned research into the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.

It found that people under 21 commit more than half of crime and more than half of people jailed will re-offend.

The consortium wants to see a greater emphasis on what it calls restorative justice.

This is when offenders are made to face up to the consequences of their crimes and the impact on victims.

Prison is the "most expensive" punishment

This also means the offender has to make restitution either in the form of a considered apology or an action which will benefit the local community.

The organisation says this will cut the cost of Scotland's penal system as prison is by far the most expensive sanction available.

The system will reduce the community's fear of crime because it is more effective at preventing re-offending.

David Colvin, consortium vice-chairman, said similar policies of restorative justice had been successfully implemented in New Zealand and a number of US states.

He says that, in New Zealand, it has been found that the prison system is 100 times more expensive than the restorative system.

Assists victims

In Scotland it could mean 1,500 fewer people would need to be sent to prison.

Mr Colvin says the system will also benefit victims since, at the moment, they are given little information once a crime has been committed and they have given their evidence.

If a case does go to trial they are often not even told if an offender has been convicted.

Under the new system they will be kept much more closely informed about what is going on.

The consortium also recommends that restorative justice is used in the children's criminal justice system.

Can 'make amends'

The Scottish Executive said: "We support restorative justice for more minor offences.

"It means offenders can be held to account for their crimes, given the chance to confront their behaviour and where appropriate be provided with opportunities to make amends directly to their victims.

"We also want to involve whole comunities in the fight against crime and that's why we are supporting more community-based sentences which remove minor offenders from the prison system.

"The criminal justice system should be about victims as much as it is about offenders.

"Next month we'll be publishing the first ever Scottish strategy for victims which will emphasise better support for victims and will involve victims in the criminal justice system as far as possible."