Public policy highlights: July 2023

Criminal law: misogyny

The Criminal Law and Equality Law Committees submitted a joint response to the Scottish Government’s consultation, Misogyny – A Human Rights Issue. The response supported the creation of the offence of misogynistic harassment in principle, but raised a number of concerns and questions which would need to be addressed in the drafting of any offence.

Notably, the committees pointed out that the draft legislation does not include a definition of misogyny, and suggested that consideration should be given to the definition of “woman”. If the intention of the legislation is to cover all women, including trans women with or without gender reassignment certificates, this should be considered in the drafting of any offence.

In supporting the creation of a misogynistic harassment offence, the response offers the view that this should not be limited to public places, as the workplace or educational environment might not then be protected under the new law.

The committees were not convinced by the consultation’s case for the creation of a misogynistic behaviour offence, suggesting that it sets the bar too low for criminality.

Find out more at the Society’s Criminal law page.

Wildlife Management Bill

Rural Affairs Committee member Jamie Whittle gave evidence on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee.

Echoing points made in the committee’s response to the call for views earlier this year, he suggested that licensing may not act as the ultimate deterrent to raptor persecution and wildlife crime, and would need to be supported by enforcement and information sharing.

He also pointed out that current wildlife legislation is particularly complex, being fragmented over a number of statutes. The Society would welcome efforts to consolidate the law, make it clearer and provide certainty for individuals.

Further, if the focus of the bill is specifically on raptor persecution, the suggested list of offences that could trigger a warning, temporary suspension or revocation of a grouse moor licence might not be appropriate and could raise issues of fairness, with grouse moors being treated differently from the wider countryside. However if the bill were to dovetail with potential land reform changes in the wider context of the biodiversity and climate change emergencies, there could be scope to regulate grouse moors as part of possible environmental management plans for larger landholdings.

Read the response, or watch the evidence session, via the Society’s page on the bill.

Coronavirus inquiry

The Society’s Public Policy Committee submitted a memorandum of comments to the UK Parliament’s Scottish Affairs Committee Coronavirus and Scotland inquiry.

The comments explained that despite broad collaboration between justice agencies and a variety of mitigating measures, the pandemic had a significant long-term impact on the legal profession. As the professional body for Scottish solicitors, the Society provided a support package for its members equivalent to £2.2 million.

Despite Scottish Government funding of around £100 million to address delays, the criminal court backlogs in solemn cases are unlikely to be cleared before March 2026. Despite a £20 million package for legal aid (10% increase in fees, £9 million resilience fund, £1 million traineeship fund), and a further £11 million package this year, the number of practitioners registered for legal aid continues to decline.

Find out more at the Society’s Public policy page.

Scottish Law Commission

The Society was pleased to note that three of the four new projects in the Commission’s Eleventh Programme of Law Reform were suggested by its Public Policy Committees: executry law, execution of documents and consolidation of nature conservation law.

In turn, the Commission noted the Society’s detailed account of the issues with regard to executry law and echoed its comments that this law is of considerable age and lacks clarity. Reform could bring real benefits to individuals across Scotland.

The Society also hopes that the Commission will give thorough consideration to the current law regarding execution of documents, to ensure that the provisions for execution of traditional and electronic documents are cohesive, integrated, and fit for purpose.

With regard to environmental law, the Society noted that the legislation is fragmented, complex and often dependent on secondary legislation to make it effective. It welcomes the Commission’s commitment to bringing together the key items of legislation into a coherent and systematic body.

Find out more at the Society’s Public policy page.