The webinar, which meets CPD requirements, is aimed at legal practitioners and will take place on Tuesday 16 January 2024 at 4.30pm to coincide with the day the guideline takes effect.

The session will be chaired by the council’s senator member, Lord Matthews, and feature presentations about different aspects of the guideline by Sheriff David Harvie, the council’s former prosecutor member, and Sheriff Louise Arrol KC, the council’s former advocate member. This will be followed by a Q&A session.

The webinar will offer insights into the guideline’s development and aims, the assessment of the seriousness of the offences it covers, and determining the headline sentence. It will also explore the relationship between offence guidelines and the existing general guidelines: Principles and purposes of sentencing, The sentencing process, and Sentencing young people.

Those who would like to attend the webinar are asked to email the Council’s secretariat at sentencingcouncil@scotcourts.gov.uk to reserve a place.