Site news
Sign up to receive an
occasional bulletin about new content.
Sign up to receive an
occasional bulletin about new content.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
This week saw the Stage 1 of the Offences (Aggravated by Prejudice) Bill, as well as a Labour led debate on police numbers. The Justice Committee began work on the first round of Stage 2 amendments of the Sexual Offences Bill.
The Justice Committee
Items of subordinate legislation
Victim Statements (Prescribed Offences) (Scotland) Order 2009 and Victim Statements (Prescribed Offences) (No 2) (Scotland) Order 2009
The Committee were joined by officials to discuss two items of subordinate legislation which had been discussed by the Committee last week but which required a further vote from the Committee this week, due to a drafting error in the initial instruments. The witnesses were thoroughly apologetic, not least because this was the second week in a row that subordinate legislation was required to rectify legislation which had been poorly drafted. After a number of questions, the Committee agreed the instruments.
Advice and Assistance and Civil Legal Aid (Priority of Debts) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 and Advice and Assistance and Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions and Contributions) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 (Draft)
The Committee were joined by the Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing, to discuss the next items of subordinate legislation, which sought to change the threshold at which legal aid is granted. The new legislation would increase the availability of legal aid to include those on higher incomes than was previously the case, although contributions will be tapered so those on higher incomes will still have to pay a substantially higher amount than those on very low incomes. The regulation was also agreed to.
Bankruptcy and Diligence etc (Scotland) Act 2007 (Inhibition) Order 2009 (Draft)
Mr Ewing remained with the Committee for the next item of subordinate legislation. This instrument would make changes to the Act concerning the right of solicitors to prior payment of fees that have been recovered for a client. The Committee also agreed this Instrument.
You can read this part of the meeting in the Official Report, and read the papers relating to the different Instruments in the meeting Papers
Stage 2 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill
The Minister remained with the committee for the commencement of Stage 2 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill. You can read all about the Bill on its homepage, link provided below. The amendments under discussion today concerned a number of areas which the Committee had commented on in their Stage 1 Report. These included the addition of an offence of ‘rape with an object’, which prompted discussions about whether or not this would be regarded as a lesser offence than ‘rape’ and the Minister provided assurances that the legislation be drafted so this did not occur. There were also amendments which would widen the range of activities which would be included under ‘sexual assault’, and another amendment introduced the offences of ‘voyeurism’, which the Bill does not currently provide for. The Minister said that currently, such an offence would be prosecuted as a breach of the Peace, but given that the offence is clearly of a sexual nature, and those found guilty of it are often placed on the sex offenders register, the Bill ought to include provisions for this offence. There were some questions about how this may affect stage shows which show nudity, but at the end of the discussion this amendment was also agreed to.
You can read the transcripts of this part of the legislation in the Official Report and you can also watch it all on Holyrood.TV.
You can also read the Bill and all related documents including the list of amendments, on the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill page.
The Chamber
Offences (Aggravated by Prejudice) Bill, Stage 1 debate
On Wednesday, the Chamber debated Stage 1 of the Offences (Aggravated by Prejudice) Bill. This Bill extends hate crime legislation, making a new statutory aggravation which would apply to cases where there is evidence that a crime has been motivated by malice or ill–will based on a victim’s actual or presumed sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability. The general principles of the Bill were recently agreed to by the Justice Committee in their Stage 1 report.
Patrick Harvie opened up the debate, and he warmly welcomed the Bill and he thanked everyone who has been involved its formulation throughout its long history. He reiterated the need for this legislation, and said that although this Bill is not a magic bullet and will not by itself stop many of the hate crimes currently experienced by a minority of the population, together with other measures, this Bill will help to reinforce the message that hate crimes are not tolerated by society.
During the debate that followed, there was much consensus from across the Chamber, with all Members speaking in favour of the Bill. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Minister for Community Safety were also keen to emphasise the Government’s support.
You can read the full debate in the Official Report, or watch it on Holyrood.TV
You can also read all the documents relating to the Bill on the Offences (Aggravated by Prejudice) Bill HomepageDebate on police numbers
The next day the Parliament returned to some familiar party political mud slinging, with a Labour led debate about police numbers. This follows the continued pressure on the Government’s election pledge for an additional 1,000 officers by 2011, a pledge which Opposition parties have been eager to hold the Government to account over.
The debate was opened by Richard Baker for Labour, and he quoted from a recent interview given by Kenny MacAskill, which he said indicated the Government were aware they were not going to succeed in meeting this pledge. The debate was marked by the usual dancing round numbers, with the implications of the use of terminology such as ‘extra capacity’, ‘additional police’, ‘additional new recruits’, and ‘extra overall police’ being argued over. During the debate, the Government finally put on record that there would be an extra 1,000 officers by March 2011, however, Opposition speeches then argued over whether this would be over and above the extra police that are getting funded from sources other than central Government.
You can read the full debate in the Official Report, or watch it on Holyrood.TV. You can also read the press in the CJScotland Newsblog.
First Minister’s Questions
Confiscation of Assets
During questions to the First Minister, Bill Aitken (Con) asked the First Minister about the law surrounding the confiscation of assets. He said that the law in Scotland had not proved as successful as it ought to have, and he spoke about the law in Ireland where the burden of proof lies entirely on the suspect to be able to show where their money comes from, if it is felt that their wealth lies beyond their means. The First Minister replied by saying that the Government are providing extra resources for the prosecution of crimes in this area, and he also drew attention to the £23 million which has already been seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act in Scotland. You can read this question in the Official Report
Slopping out payments
The First Minister revealed to the Chamber during FMQs that the Scottish Government had come to resolution with their colleagues in Westminster, about resolving the Sommerville issue (which meant that the Scottish Government were liable for payments to ex prisoners as compensation for slopping out under human rights legislation). Mr Salmond said that following intensive discussions between officials, agreement had been reached in principle on a quick and practical solution to the problem.
You can read this question in the Official Report, and also read the press on the story in the CJScotland Newsblog
Written questions
This week there was a question about the number of racially motivated crimes recorded by police, how many children are living with parents with drug abuse problems . There were a number of questions about repeat offenders, and about numbers of unpaid fiscal fines, and the amount of money spent on anti-knife carrying campaigns . There was a question about disposals given to prosecutions under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and about whether piracy was an offence under Scots Law, and about the police projection study that the Government carried out (see the debate above for more information). There was a question about the amount of drugs found in each Scottish prison over the past year, and a question which revealed there were 293 foreign nationals currently in Scottish prisons.
Posted by KM
on Tue 24th Mar 2009
at 8:18 am
• Permalink • Tell-a-Friend