Creating a
safer, fairer
Scotland
Community justice is about changing the way we think about justice to deliver better outcomes for victims, communities and those involved with the justice system.
Preventing crime
Community Justice Scotland is a public body focused on preventing people breaking the law – using the evidence around what works to stop people getting involved in crime as well as reducing reoffending.
Evidence led
The evidence shows that a community-based sentence can help prevent people from breaking the law again which leads to fewer victims and safer communities. Community justice is a prevention-first approach where health, social services, education and justice services work together to find solutions to problems that could contribute to people breaking the law. These include homelessness, substance use and family violence.
Community solutions
Community justice is about making sure people who have broken the law are held to account and where safe to do so are supported in the community to address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour.
Navigating Scotland’s criminal justice system
Our new-look digital guide shows the criminal justice system in full — demonstrating its complexity and the various stages a person may pass through, from an alleged crime, to investigation, prosecution, sentencing, and beyond.
1 in 3 men and 1 in 10 women in Scotland have a criminal conviction. The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act reduces the length of time that many convictions need to be disclosed for things such as job and university applications, meaning people who have broken the law can reconnect and contribute to their communities.
Source: Disclosure of convictions – Reducing reoffending – gov.scot
Community sentences are often more effective at reducing reoffending and less costly than prison sentences, particularly when it comes to sentences of under a year. Of those released from prison in 2017/18 who had served a sentence of a year or less, 49% were reconvicted within a year. The average prisoner place costs £37,334 per year, compared to £1,894 for a Community Payback Order.
Source: Scottish Government, cost of the criminal justice system in Scotland dataset (2016/17).
Scotland’s communities have benefitted from around 10 million hours of unpaid work carried out by people serving community sentences since 2011.
Source: Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland: up to end of year 2021-22.
Changing lives, strengthening communities
Discover the effect a community-based approach has made to the lives of people in communities across Scotland.
Nobody wakes up and decides they want to be a criminal.
Find your local authority
Local authorities across Scotland deliver a wide range of services relating to community justice. Find out what’s available in your area by visiting your local authority’s website.
What’s happening now
What's new
We Need To Listen To People In The Justice System
John Nonhebel, executive director of Prison Fellowship Scotland talks about restorative justice work carried out by the faith-based charity