Around the houses

Meanwhile the work-a-day business of law making continues apace in both legislatures. In the Scottish Parliament, the creation of a second Justice and Home Affairs Committee may lead to twice the legislation. The Society is closely involved in issues before the Justice Committees including the current Review of Legal Aid and Stage 1 of the investigation of the Convention Rights(Compliance) (Scotland) Bill.

This bill is an important measure which seeks to ensure that the workings of the Parole Board, matters relating to certain life prisoners, legal aid issues such as exceptional cases in summary matters and legal aid for Tribunals as well as other aspects of the legal system are compliant with the ECHR. The Society has given a memorandum to the Justice 1 Committee and has appeared before the Committee to give oral evidence.

The Health and Community Care Committee are considering The Regulation of Care Bill, which seeks to modernise, regulate and standardise care services in Scotland. The bill includes provisions to establish a new, independent Scottish Commissioner for the Regulation of Care as well as the Scottish Social Services Council. The Society has given written evidence to the committee with comments designed to strengthen the provisions of the bill.

January also saw the publication of The Millan Committee recommendations following their review of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984. The report and the many important reforms it suggests will be considered in detail by the Society’s Mental Health and Disability Committee before the publication of a white paper which is expected in the summer.

The Society also welcomed the announcement by the Justice Minister, Jim Wallace, that more action is to be taken to address the needs of victims of crime in the Scottish Justice System. Identifying vulnerable or intimidated witnesses as early as possible, ensuring that victims are kept informed, the proposed expansion of the witness service and the introduction of a new website to give information on court procedures have been welcomed as sensible and helpful. The pilot victim statement scheme recognises the need for a court to have all relevant information at the time of sentencing. The Society will participate in the consultation process of this idea and monitor the pilot scheme closely.

In Westminster there are many bills which have an impact on Scots law and the Society is monitoring and seeking amendments to, for example, the International Criminal Court Bill, the Social Security Fraud Bill, the Criminal Justice and Police Bill and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill. Quite evidently this amount of legislation shows how important it is to continue to represent the Society’s interests in all our legislatures.      

In addition the Society is awaiting the introduction of the regulations to implement the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which have been the subject of a great deal of negotiation with the Home Office and the Scottish Executive.

If you would like any more information on these and other issues please contact Anne Keenan or Michael Clancy at the Society.