Law reform update

Cadder v HMA

The Scottish Government introduced the Criminal Procedure (Legal Assistance, Detention and Appeals) (Scotland) Bill into the Scottish Parliament on 26 October following the judgement handed down by the Supreme Court that day in Cadder v HMA. The Scottish Parliament agreed that this bill should be treated as an emergency bill, and accordingly all three stages of the bill were taken on 27 October, when the bill was passed.

The Society, having considered the terms of the bill, wrote to all MSPs prior to their consideration of the bill, outlining its concerns. In particular, while welcoming the proposal to allow a suspect the right to have a private consultation with a solicitor before or during questioning, the Society questioned the need to double, and in some cases quadruple, the six hour detention period provided for in s 14(2) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill

On Tuesday 26 October, the Society gave evidence to the Justice Committee at the Scottish Parliament on the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill. This member's bill, introduced by Rhoda Grant MSP on 27 May 2010, proposes to remove the requirement to establish a course of conduct before a non-harassment order can be granted by a civil court; to make legal aid free to all for an application to a civil court for an interdict with a power of arrest, or a non-harassment order, where domestic abuse is involved; and to make breach of interdict with a power of arrest a criminal offence. The Society raised concerns about the legal aid proposals, the proposed definition of "domestic abuse" contained in the bill, and the limitations of the list of potential perpetrators. The Society also expressed the view that if breach of interdict is to be made a criminal offence, the criminal standard of proof would have to be applied.

Pensions Subcommittee

The Pensions Subcommittee has been extremely busy of late with a number of new consultations arising and others closing. It is currently considering the Hutton report on public sector pensions, published at the beginning of October, and is due to submit comments shortly.

The committee, jointly with the Employment Subcommittee, also recently submitted a response to the consultation on the phasing out of the default retirement age, which proposes to remove the current statutory age of 65. The Society's HR director, Ken Cunningham, also provided input. The response includes concerns about notification to both employers and employees of the intention to retire, and the impact on pension benefits, and seeks clarification of guidance around flexible retirement.

Recently published consultations which the committee will be considering include the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2011, and the EU's Green Paper Towards Adequate Sustainable Safe European Pensions.