How do judges in Scotland decide on rape sentences?

Judges can also choose an order for lifelong restriction (OLR), a sentence used in rape cases more than 200 times over the last 12 years.

These happen when the court is satisfied that the offender could seriously endanger the public if they are ever freed.

The judge decides how long the prisoner should spend in custody to satisfy the requirement for retribution and deterrence.

This part of an OLR can look quite short, but the prisoner is only released if it is decided it is safe to do so.

And once they are out, they are the subject to a risk management plan until the day they die.

The maximum possible sentence for rape is life – the sentence for murderers – but it is rare for it to be used.

The Scottish Sentencing Council says the average sentence for rape is difficult to calculate but falls somewhere between six and eight years.

On paper the range of possible sentences appears more lenient than those in the sentencing guideline for England and Wales.

The chair of the Sentencing Council, Scotland’s second most senior judge Lady Dorrian, argues the legal systems are so different it is not comparing like with like.

She says the time rapists actually spend in jail north and south of the border will be comparable.

Lady Dorrian also refused to be drawn into the debate over the Scottish government’s proposals to bring back the automatic early release of prisoners serving four years or more including, potentially, sex offenders.

She insisted judges never have the rules on release in mind when they set sentences.

“We have no control over that and traditionally these factors are not taken into account in sentencing,” Lady Dorrian said.

“What the government chooses to do in relation to early release provisions, what the parole board chooses to do, is beyond our control.”

Research commissioned by the sentencing council showed that victims in rape cases often feel that the rights and interests of the accused superseded their own when it comes to sentencing.

There was a belief that sentences are too lenient.

Two draft guidelines have been published for public consultation.

One covers rape cases where the victim is 13 or over.

The second covers cases where the victim is a young child.

Lady Dorrian says they want people from all backgrounds, legal or otherwise, to submit their views.