" class="left_link">» Text HereMonday, February 01, 2010
The Justice Committee carried out a one–off evidence session of the summary justice reforms, in which they heard from the Solicitor General for Scotland and the Scottish Law Society. There were also a number of justice related questions in the Chamber.
The Justice Committee
Summary Justice Reforms
Today’s meeting was dedicated to taking evidence as part of the Committee’s scrutiny of summary justice reform that have taken place over the past two years.
These reforms were initiated in 2001 under the former Scottish Executive, and culminated in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007. The rationale behind the reforms was to make summary justice more efficient by reforming the way that cases are prosecuted and tried.The key planks of the legislation included: making procedural changes to the way in which criminal cases are handled; increasing the sentencing powers of summary criminal courts; expanding alternatives to prosecution; changing the way in which fines can be collected and enforced; and establishing justice of the peace courts in place of district courts. The main provisions of the 2007 Act were brought into force in December 2007 and March 2008, although some significant reforms are still being rolled out across the country such as the move from district to justice of the peace courts.
Last year, the Committee agreed to hold a one–off evidence session and to invite written evidence from a number of interested parties, in order to monitor the progress of the reforms.
The Committee received written submissions from a parties including the Solicitor General for Scotland (Crown Office), the Law Society of Scotland, the Scottish Government, and others. As well as considering the written evidence, the Committee also invited the Law Society for Scotland and the Solicitor General for Scotland, and to come and give oral evidence.
In his written submission to the Committee, the Solicitor General, Frank Mulholland, outlined the some of what he said were the successes of the reforms to date. These included an increase in the number of cases being dealt with more quickly through the courts, an increased number of accused people pleading guilty at an earlier stage, fewer witnesses being called to give evidence in courts, and more cases being tried in the Justice of the Peace and District Courts, allowing the Sheriff Courts to be freed up to deal with more serious cases. He also defended the Crown’s use of direct measures, saying that great care was taken to ensure that they were not used inappropriately. These themes came up in the questions asked by the Committee who were particularly keen to know about the use of direct measures, which have attracted most attention since coming into effect. They also asked about the increased rate in payments of fiscal fines, now up to between 60 – 70% from around 40% before the reforms, and Mr Mullholland also spoke about how fiscals have discretion to deal with persistent offenders. He said that there remained a lot of capacity in court houses throughout Scotland, which could be used to sit in the evenings or even weekends.
Members of the Law Society were next to given evidence. In their written submission, they spoke about the increased usages of direct measures, and they said that although they supported this on the whole, they were nonetheless occasionally concerned that they were being used inappropriately, either because the offence was too serious, or because of the history of convictions of the accused. They also said they were concerned about the increased use of direct measures by the police, which had not received the same degree of scrutiny as direct measures issued by the Crown. Their submission also highlighted concern about the ‘opt-out’ aspect of direct measures, whereby it is assumed that an individual will accept the direct measure unless they explicitly chose not to. They said that the majority of their clients have literacy problems and lead very chaotic lives so may not be able to make an informed decision about whether to opt out or not.
During their questions from the Committee, they were asked further about these issues, with members concerned that some offenders were avoiding appearing before the courts. However, they spoke more favourably about the affect that the reforms are having on the administration of the courts, with far fewer delays and fewer witnesses having to be called.
You can read all their evidence in the official report, or watch it on Holyrood.TV.
You can also read all the written submissions received by the Committee in pages 5 – 56 of the Meeting Papers. Finally, you can read more about the summary justice reforms in a paper prepared by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) SPICe Briefing - Summary Criminal Justice Reform.
Public Petitions Committee
Male victims of domestic abuse
The Committee considered a petition which “Calls on the Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that all publicly funded action on domestic abuse/violence fully address the needs of male victims and their children.” The Official Report was not online at time of posting, but the minutes of the meeting reveal that the Committee heard from the petitioners and agreed to write to relevant parties, including the Scottish Government, Victim Support Scotland, Law Society, Scottish Women’s Aid, to get responses to the issues raised.
You can read the petition and access the sPICE guide using the links below.
Briefing for the Public Petitions Committee - Petition Number: PE1307
See also the CJScotland Newsblog for press coverage of this story
The Chamber
General Questions
Use of Naloxene
Anne McLaughlin (SNP) asked the Minister for Community Safety, Fergus Ewing, about the use of the drug ‘naloxene’, which can be used to reverse the effects of an opiates overdoes, for problem drug users. She said that if an individual is overdosing, it would be physically impossible for them to self–administer this life saving antidote, and the Government should therefore ensure that it is made be available to the friends and family of addicts so they can administer it if necessary. The Minister replied that a protocol for the use of this drug is currently being drawn up by the national forum on drug–related deaths, and he would ‘very much want to consider’ a way so that friends and family are able to access this drug as well.
In a supplementary question from Dr Richard Simpson (Lab), he agreed that the problem of people who overdoes shortly after discharge from prison is of concern, and he said that he would wait and see if the forum recommended that discharged prisoners should be made aware of naloxene and its potential ability to save lives.
You can read this question in the Official Report.
Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005
Robin Harper (Green) asked the Government if it considered that the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 is being applied effectively. This legislation introduced a range of provisions including a new offence of sexual grooming of a person under 16 and it also introduced Risk of Sexual Harm Orders, which are designed to protect children from those who display inappropriate behaviour towards them. Mr Harper argued that there was considerable confusion over this legislation because only a small number of people are being prosecuted under the 2005 act, with most offenders being prosecuted under earlier legislation. He argued that because there was a considerable lack of clarity surrounding the number of children in Scotland who are sexually exploited, the Government should fund research to look at whether the few number of convictions is due to few offences taking place, or to policing priorities.
The Cabinet Secretary replied that further research on this issue was not be priority, and that there were a number of issues to consider which may affect the number of convictions under this legislation. He hinted that offences under this legislation do occur, but just that they are often hidden under a more serious headline offence when they are recorded.
In a supplementary question, Richard Baker (Lab) asked about the case of Ryan Yates, a convicted sex offender who committed a further serious offence two days into a sexual offences prevention order. Mr Baker wanted to know whether more should have been done to restrict Mr Yate’s behaviour and whether there should be a review of procedures. The Secretary replied that these matters must remain for the Crown Office and the police to deal with, but he commented that, although he did not want to comment on particular cases, judges who impose orders of lifelong restriction because they feel that this would be appropriate in this particular case, would have the full support of the Government. See the CJScotland Newsblog for the press coverage of this case.
And you can read this question in the Official Report.
Written Questions
There were questions about alcohol abuse, including how many men and women consume more than the recommended levels of alcohol, and about the Government’s response to the BBC programme “The Buckfast Code”, and about the numbers of prosecutions for shoplifting. There were a number of questions on crime, including the numbers of ex-service personelle in prison, and about arrangements for the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh. There was a question about foreign nationals in Scottish prisons, and about the educational opportunities available to offenders in prison
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