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People under the age of 25 should not be jailed because their brains are not fully mature, new draft guidelines say.
The Scottish Sentencing Council, which produces guidelines for all courts, has launched a 12-week public consultation.
They say a young person's maturity should be taken into account when assessing their blameworthiness.
It follows research saying imbalances in brain development explain risk-taking and emotionally driven behaviour which can lead to illegal activity.
The new guidelines say young people have a greater capacity for change and more emphasis should be placed on rehabilitation. It also calls for more cases to be referred to the children's hearing system for advice.
Factors that affect young people, such as being in care, trauma or bereavement, should be taken into account when deciding on a sentence, they say.
Sheriffs and judges would still be able to use the full range of sentencing options but the guidelines makes it clear that prison or detention should only be used on under-25s when the judge is satisfied that no other sentence is appropriate.
Lord Turnbull, senator member of the Scottish Sentencing Council, said young people should be treated differently to adults in sentencing because they were different.
"Generally speaking a young person's cognitive function will be less developed than an adult person and their life experiences will be different," he said.
"These are factors which will be required to be taken into account of in sentencing culpability or blameworthiness."
About 17,000 young people are sentenced each year and it is estimated more than 2,000 are jailed.
The latest figures show about 750 males and 60 females under 21 are given custodial sentences each year as well as about 4,000 men and 300 women between the ages of 21 and 30.
The Scottish Sentencing Council's research into cognitive maturity was carried out by the University of Edinburgh, which found that the brain continues to develop well into adulthood and does not reach maturity until about 25 to 30.
Lord Turnball has urged the public to take part in the consultation on the guidelines.