The membership of the body has yet to be announced

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill told the Scottish Parliament that it would look at the purpose and impact of imprisonment in contemporary Scotland.

It will form part of a review aimed at replacing short jail terms with community sentences.

Mr MacAskill said Scotland's prison population had soared, despite recorded crime remaining largely static.

The commission will report back by the end of June 2008.

Minor offences

Mr MacAskill said: "I refuse to believe that Scottish people are inherently bad, so why are we locking up twice as many offenders as Ireland or Norway?

"Proportionately we have one of the highest prison populations in western Europe."

The justice secretary insisted that while sentencing was a matter for the courts, serious and dangerous offenders must continue to be sent to prison.

However, he said a short custodial sentence for a minor offence, giving the offender no opportunity to pay something back for the wrong they have done, was not a smart sentence.

"We have a huge remand population so we also need to look at a variety of options to deal with those awaiting trial," said Mr MacAskill.