Non-criminal arrest procedures out to consultation

Possible adaptations to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to apply its arrest provisions to arrests on non-criminal matters have been put out to consultation by Scottish ministers.

The Act contains procedures and protections which will apply to all arrests, including that the arrested person must be given certain information including the nature of the suspected offence, and that they must be taken to a police station. Section 60 allows ministers to make regulations to modify or disapply the Act to arrests that do not relate to criminal arrests – for example an arrest for a breach of a protective court order or a witness arrested under warrant to ensure they attend court. For these arrests, not all the procedures and protections set out in the Act are appropriate.

The proposed regulations will ensure that such arrests can be catered for within the new arrest and custody procedures brought in by the Act.

A draft set of regulations with the consultation paper sets out what amendments are proposed, with an explanation of why they are seen as necessary. Feedback from the consultation will be used to revise the regulations if necessary.

Click here to view the consultation. The deadline for responses is 16 January 2017.