Site news
Sign up to receive an
occasional bulletin about new content.
Sign up to receive an
occasional bulletin about new content.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
This week the Justice Committee narrowly backed Government plans to close a number of district courts as part of summary justice reform process, the final decision once again being decided on the casting vote of the convenor. In the Chamber there was a Ministerial statement about the Government’s sectarian strategy, and a number of justice questions for the First Minister.
Justice Committee
Subordinate Legislation
Justice of the Peace Courts (Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway) etc Order 2009 (SSI 2009/332)
This was a return to an issue discussed in Committee last May relating to proposed district court closures under the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (summary justice reform). In order to close any courts, the Government must enact an Order by way of subordinate legislation, and it is the Committee’s role to decide whether or not to make any recommendations in relation to the order to the Parliament. The Committee overturned this particular order following evidence from two Labour MSPs in whose constituencies district courts proposed for closure lay. However, the Government decided to press on after receiving new recommendations from the Scottish Court Service. The current proposals would result in the closure of Girvan, Cumnock and East Kilbride courts, and the Annan district court would be turned into a Justice of the Peace court.
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice joined the Committee to speak in favour of the Order. He said that the decisions on which courts should close had been made after a consideration of factors including business level, value for money and the standard of existing facilities. He said that he had listened carefully to arguments made by the Committee in May, particularly with reference to the distance to be travelled to courts and the importance of locally available justice, but that many courts no longer have a sufficient level of business to justify their continuation. He argued that the proposals would allow limited resources to be concentrated on providing secure and modern facilities for all court users.
Cathy Jamieson (Lab) joined the Committee to try and persuade them to annul the Order. She said that she was disappointed that the Government had not listened after the Committee’s earlier decision, and she spoke of her constituents who were eager to that further services not be moved away from their local area. She also said that these proposals went against the McInnes reforms, which intended for justice to be delivered in local communities.
There was a short debate in which a number of Committee spoke, although all along party lines. At the end of the debate, there was vote which was tied (3 Labour and 1 LD MSP voted against the closures, and 3 SNP and 1 Con MSP in favour). The Convenor once again had the deciding vote, and in this instance, he voted with the Government, saying that although the proposals are far from ideal, he had to recognise the financial situation that currently exists.
You can read the full transcripts of this debate in the Official Report, and the details of the court closures in pages 4 – 14 of the meeting papers. You can also watch the meeting on Holyrood.TV and read the press stories in the CJScotland Newsblog
The Chamber
Ministerial Statement on Sectarianism
On Wednesday afternoon, the Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, made a statement to the house about the Government’s recently announced strategy for tackling sectarianism.
The Minister began by recognising the significant work carried out by Jack McConnell and the previous administration in tackling sectarianism, and said that there was no doubt that progress has been made on this front. He said that the Government’s strategy was based on funding a number of key projects, such as Nil by Mouth, Sense of Over Sectarianism, and Show Racism the Red Card, and they were also bringing together partners to deliver work in communities, workplaces and courts. He also praised work carried out by Youth Link Scotland and the Iona Community (resources for use in Polmont and adult prisons).
The Minister spoke about the importance of working in partnership with agencies, which he said ensures that work is “co-ordinated, focused and effective”, and he said that the Football Banning Order monitoring group, which includes the Crown Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Football Association, were pressing for a banning order to be sought on every occasion that sectarian abuse, violence or disorder occurs. These orders prevent banned individuals from attending matches involving national or club teams and can also prevent them from travelling to football matches abroad, for up to 10 years. He said that as FBOs have been in place for three years now, it was time to evaluate their progress, and this evaluation will be completed by winter 2010.
He also spoke about marches and parades, saying that since the 2006 statement on tackling abusive behaviour at marches and parades, the number of marches has changed little, and he called on the organisers to consider the impact and disruption that marches can cause. The Minister also spoke about the importance of education and the ways in which art, drama and poetry have in making sure young people learn the message that sectarianism has no place in modern society.
During questions that followed, Mr Ewing was asked about issues ranging from a future sectarian summit, the policing of football matches, and how this strategy would tie in with Westminister’s Equality Bill. All questions were relatively good natured, until it was Jack McConnell (Lab)’s turn, who seemed to have lost his patience with the Minister. Saying that this was “frankly, not good enough” he asked a number of questions which he felt the Minister so far avoided, one of which was for the Minister to disclose a list of those who will be invited to the summit on Sectarianism. The Minister replied in a later question that he would be more than happy to provide this information in writing later and that there was no big secret about who would attend.
You can read this statement and questions in the Official Report, or watch it on Holyrood.TV. You can also read the Government’s press release.
Questions
Short custodial sentences
There was a question from the new Labour spokesperson on community safety and Justice Committee Member, James Kelly, about the recently published Stage 1 report on the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill, which rejected the Government’s proposals on short custodial sentences. Mr Kelly said that if the Government’s plans were followed, then 40 per cent of those who have been convicted of indecent assault, 71 per cent of those who have been convicted of housebreaking and 75 per cent of those who have been convicted of all crimes and offences, would no longer receive custodial sentences. The First Minister replied by quoting from the Committee’s Report, which said that short custodial sentences have a “limited effect as a deterrent”, and also he quoted from a newspaper article in which an unnamed Labour MSP voiced his concerns with his party’s justice policies. He said that there was a growing consensus outside Parliament which agreed with these views, and said that he ‘felt confident’ that this would be reflected in a majority within the Parliament as well.
In response to a follow up question from Linda Fabiani (SNP), he agreed with the stance taken by the Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith who called for all sentences of two months or under to be scrapped.
You can read the question in the Official Report
Legal Advice on Alcohol Minimum Pricing legislation
Murdo Fraser (Con) asked whether the Government would share the legal advice it had received regarding the legality or otherwise of their plans for minimum pricing of alcohol. Alex Salmond replied that the Government are keen to share “as much legal advise as they possibly can”, but that they are bound by the restrictions on sharing legal advice that all Governments are bound by. He concluded by mentioning that Iain Duncan Smith also supported plans on minimum pricing for alcohol.
You can read this question in the Official Report.
Written Questions
Written questions this week included on the topic of whether the Government plans to introduce ‘neighbourhood crime maps’, about the number of domestic abuse cases prosecuted in the past 3 years, and about the average conviction for possession of different drugs. There were also questions about the ages of women given custodial sentences in different regions of Scotland, and a question about whether the Government would consider amending the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill to bring it in line with legislation in England and Wales in relation to human trafficking , and a question about the number of direct measures given for assaults. There was a question about the cost of the newly established Scottish Police Board and about how many women there are in custody, about funding for rape crisis centres, and finally, about an evaluation of the Child Sex Offender Community Disclosure Scheme in Tayside.
Posted by KM
on Tue 24th Nov 2009
at 9:27 am
• Permalink • Tell-a-Friend