Undergraduate Course: Sentencing: Law, Philosophy, and Practice (LAWS10271)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | 'Sentencing' is a high-profile court process whereby punishment is imposed on a convicted offender by a judicial authority. This course explores the law, philosophy, and wider implications of this most complex and contested practice of criminal justice. |
| Course description |
'Sentencing' is a high-profile court process whereby punishment is imposed on a convicted offender by a judicial authority. As an instance of coercive state power over the individual, sentencing and punishment entail the deliberate infliction of hard treatment and involve doing things to people that (when not described as 'sentencing and punishment') appear to be morally wrong. This Honours course explores the law, philosophy, and wider implications of this most complex and contested practice of criminal justice.
The course begins with two foundational topics in the philosophy of sentencing and punishment. It proceeds to consider seven contemporary topics in sentencing with special emphasis on cutting-edge research and new trajectories in the field, including the work of the Scottish Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. In response to a half-century of sentence inflation, the course concludes by evaluating a diverse set of reform initiatives. This includes the Sentencing Act 2026, which has been pitched as the most significant sentencing statute in a generation.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Spaces on this course are allocated as part of the Law Honours Course Allocation process. Places are generally only available to students who must take Law courses. To request a space on this course, please email Law.courseselection@ed.ac.uk |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | This course is only open to visiting students coming through a direct exchange with the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific Exchange). Exchange students outside of Law and independent study abroad students are not eligible to enrol in this course, with no exceptions.
**Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces.**
Priority will be given to students studying on exchange within the Law department, and it is highly unlikely that there will be additional spaces for general exchange students & independent study abroad students to enrol; we will look into this on a case-by-case basis in September/January. Visiting students are advised to bear in mind that enrolment in specific courses can never be guaranteed, and you may need to be flexible in finding alternatives in case your preferred courses have no available space. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
5,000 word essay (100%) |
| Feedback |
Formative essay of 1,500 words part-way through the course; mark and written feedback to be provided. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Analyse classic and contemporary theories in sentencing and the philosophy of punishment
- Engage critically with empirical studies of the criminal law-in-action
- Scrutinise the guidelines published by the Scottish Sentencing Council, with comparative reference to sentencing guidelines in England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions
- Evaluate current sentencing practice and routes to reform
- Aspire to excellence in sentencing research and the craft of academic writing
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Reading List
There is no 'set text' for Sentencing: Law, Philosophy, and Practice: rather, the course has been designed to give students the time, support, and intellectual freedom to read broadly, but purposefully, and research issues for themselves. The following texts are, however, highly recommended in that they cover overlapping ground and serve as a strong foundation for our seminar discussions:
Philosophy of sentencing and punishment
J Ryberg (ed), The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment (Oxford University Press 2025)
RA Duff, Punishment, Communication and Community (Oxford University Press 2001)
N Lacey, State Punishment: Political Principles and Community Values (Routledge 1988)
Sentencing law and practice
A Ashworth and R Kelly, Sentencing and Criminal Justice (7th edn, Hart Publishing 2021)
A Freiberg and JV Roberts, Advanced Introduction to Sentencing (Edward Elgar 2025)
EAO Freer, Sentencing: New Trajectories in Law (Routledge 2021)
JV Roberts, A Freiberg, and R Hester, Sentencing Guidelines and Commissions: Comparative Perspectives (Oxford University Press 2025)
R Henham, Sentencing Policy and Social Justice (Oxford University Press 2018) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry; personal and intellectual autonomy; personal effectiveness; communication |
| Keywords | Sentencing,courts,philosophy of punishment,criminal justice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gabrielle Watson
Tel:
Email: gabrielle.watson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Eleni Koumentakou
Tel:
Email: ekoument@ed.ac.uk |
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