Effectiveness of Criminal courts

• Courts can issue

  • Absolute discharge
  • Admonition (warning)
• Absolute discharge or admonition means the offender is given a second chance and it is hoped they will learn from their mistake
• The court system acts as a deterrent. Most people don't commit crime as they don't wish to appear in court and potentially be punished
• Courts have a wide range of sentences they can impose

  • Prison for a lengthy period for pre-meditated murder
  • Other punishments fit the crime
• Prisonallows...


  Allows time for reflection, reform and rehabilitation, Protects the public from dangerous offenders
• Some sentences

  • Allow for reparation, eg. compensation paid by the perpetrator to the victim
  • Focus on the needs of the victim, eg. restorative justice
  • Involve unpaid work in the community, which is beneficial
  • Address the root causes of crime, eg. Drug Treatment and Testing Orders
• Crime still happens; in 2020-21, there were 246,511 crimes committed in Scotland (675 crimes per day)
• Offences relating to drugs possession and handling offensive weapons have increased in recent years
• Drug deaths in Scotland are almost three times higher than the rest of the UK
• Cyber crimes have doubled in recent years
• Nearly just over half of all crimes are not cleared (the police make no arrests) meaning the courts have no role to play with these crimes
• Scotland has the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe, prison sentences are getting longer and the cost of imprisonment has increased in recent years
• Prison does not stop people from committing crimes; 44% of people released from custody are re-convicted within a year
• The court system came to a standstill during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, leading to a huge backlog of cases
• Courts can issue fines but most fines go unpaid