Courts in Scotland Flashcards
What is the maximum fine that the JP can issue?
£2500
What are the 3 roles of the criminal courts?
Determine guilt, punish and provide justice
Around what % of crimes do not make it to court?
50%
What is a summary procedure?
Only a judge passes verdict, there is no jury.
What are the two types of sentencing?
Custodial and non-custodial
What are the two types of procedures?
Summary procedure and solemn procedure.
What is the correct terminology for community service?
Community Payback Order (CPO)
How many people are there in a jury in Scotland?
15
What is the maximum custodial sentence that can be passed in the JP
60 days in custody
What are the three main criminal courts in Scotland called?
Justice of the Peace. Sheriff Court and the High Court
What types of crime will the JP deal with?
Less serious crimes in society such as road traffic offences
What is a non-custodial sentence?
A punishment that does not involve prison. Normally a fine, Home Detention Curfew (HDC) or Community Payback Order (CPO)
What is a solemn procedure?
A judge and jury (15 people)
What are the three current verdicts in Scottish Courts?
Guilty, Not Guilty and Not Proven
What types of crime will the High Court deal with?
The most serious in society such as murder and serious assault
Rank the courts in order of which deals with the most serious crimes down to least
High Court
Sheriff Court
Justice of the Peace
Under a summary procedure in the Sheriff Court, what are the maximum punishments?
12 months custodial sentence
£5,000 financial fine
Rufus McLean got sentenced to 120 hours of Community Payback Order by which court?
Edinburgh Sheriff Court
The murder case of Margaret Fleming took place in which court?
Glasgow High Court
The Glasgow Sheriff Court determined that Natalie McGarry was guilty of …
Embezzlement
Hamilton Sheriff Court punished Mark McLean by …
Giving him a Community Payback Order
The High Court in Glasgow provide justice for whose family after they convicted Andrew Wallace?
Julie Reilly
3 reasons why people argue that the courts are effective are
- They can imprison perpetrators
- They can deter people from committing crime
- They can keep the public safe
3 reasons why people argue that the courts are not effective are
- Reoffending rates are high
- They do not deter enough people
- Some guilty people get away
why are courts effective because they can imprison perpetrators of crime in Scotland?
criminal courts are able to send someone to prison for the crimes that they have committed as a good way of punishing them for their crimes and to remove them from society in order to protect the public from future offending and dangerous individuals.
What is an example of the courts effectively sending perpetrators to prison?
many will feel that sending Kevin Guthrie to prison after he sexually assaulted a woman in Glasgow is an effective way the courts have responded to this crime.
Why are courts effective at reducing offending?
They can deter people from committing crimes.
Why are courts effective at deterring crime?
A key role of the courts is to punish offenders for what they have done so other potential criminals might be put off committing crimes after seeing how others were punished. People who have been sent to prison may also not want to be in that situation again and therefore not commit any more crimes.
How are courts more effective than the police at deterring crime?
the courts can issue tougher punishments for people who commit hate crimes as a way of deterring people from being racists or homophobic.
How do courts effectively keep the public safe?
By locking up dangerous criminals, the courts keep people off the streets who might otherwise commit horrific crimes. The courts can also issue rehabilitation and counselling to stop offending behaviours.
What is an example of the courts keeping the public safe from a potential psychopath?
The High Court - by locking up Aaron Campbell, the murderer of Alesha MacPhail, the courts are stopping this potential psychopath from harming others.
Why are courts not effective at tackling crime?
high rates of reoffending.
Why do courts not effectively tackle reoffending?
This is where the people the courts punished have not addressed the reasons why they committed the crimes and so go onto commit more crimes.
What evidence suggests that Scottish courts were failing to stop offending?
the Scottish government has had to ban courts from issuing short sentences of less than 12 months as reoffending rates were as high as 30%.
why are courts ineffective because they are not deterring enough criminals?
One purpose of the courts is to deter others from committing crimes but the fact that there has been an increase in crimes that are violent in nature such as murder, assault and robbery suggest that they are not fully effective.
What evidence is there that courts are ineffective because they are not deterring enough criminals?
non-sexual violent crime has increased by 16% in recent years.
Why do conviction rates prove that Scottish courts are not effective?
Guilty people in Scotland are not found guilty.
The nearly abolished Not Proven verdict in Scotland is an example of ineffectiveness of the courts. Why?
Because Scotland has the Not Proven verdict it can mean that even though a jury finds someone guilty they may not feel there is enough evidence to convict. For example, 1 in 5 Rape trials results in the Not Proven Verdict.
