Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980

42 Restriction on passing sentence of imprisonment on person not previously so dealt with

(1) A court shall not pass a sentence of imprisonment on a person of or over twenty-one years of age who has not been previously sentenced to imprisonment or detention by a court in any part of the United Kingdom unless the court considers that no other method of dealing with him is appropriate; and for the purpose of determining whether any other method of dealing with such a person is appropriate the court shall obtain (from an officer of a local authority or otherwise) such information as it can about the offender's circumstances; and it shall also take into account any information before it concerning the offender's character and physical and mental condition.

(2) Where a court of summary jurisdiction passes a sentence of imprisonment on any such person as is mentioned in subsection (1) above, the court shall state the reason for its opinion that no other method of dealing with him is appropriate, and shall have that reason entered in the record of the proceedings.

(3) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 41 of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.