The prisons inspectorate for Scotland said that the fact of imprisonment, and the nature of imprisonment, did real harm to people with severe and enduring mental health problems. The harm was exacerbated by overcrowding.
Source: Out of Sight: Severe and enduring mental health problems in Scotland's prisons, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland/Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Summary | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
The Scottish Government published a plan for the management of offenders. The main elements of the plans included: the introduction of a new community payback sentence, which offenders would sign off before they left court, involving unpaid work starting within a week and finishing within six months; legislation to make clear that judges should not impose a custodial sentence of six months or less unless they felt that there was no other option; and allowing judges to hold review hearings to check, and seek to maintain the progress of, community sentences.
Source: Protecting Scotland's Communities: Fair, fast and flexible justice, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Plan | SG press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The prisons inspectorate for Scotland published its annual report for 2007-08. It highlighted the continuing use of imprisonment for some children; the difficulties in improving the quality of food; a lack of work for most prisoners; the impact of high levels of overcrowding; the poor conditions in which remand prisoners lived; problems in reducing reoffending; and the poverty, social exclusion, and inequality from which nearly all prisoners suffered.
Source: Annual Report 2007-2008, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland/Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | CIPS press release | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Nov
An article examined Scottish criminal justice institutions; statistical trends in crime and punishment; the history and politics of Scottish criminal justice; and the emergence of a distinctively Scottish criminology. It highlighted the cross-cutting modalities of power and identity that had shaped both institutional and policy development.
Source: Lesley McAra, 'Crime, criminology and criminal justice in Scotland', European Journal of Criminology, Volume 5 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Nov
A report by a committee of MSPs said that the delivery of community policing in Scotland was inconsistent, and the majority of police forces did not have clear community policing strategies.
Source: Report on Inquiry into Community Policing, 18th Report 2008, SP Paper 155, Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release
Date: 2008-Oct
The Scottish Parliament approved a Bill to strengthen judges' independence and modernize the administration of Scotland's courts. All the country's courts would be brought under the administration of the Lord President, the head of the Scottish judiciary.
Source: Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SG press release
Date: 2008-Sep
The Scottish Government announced plans for reforming the criminal justice system. Among the measures to be included in a Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill were: plans to crack down on prisoners who used mobile phones to run criminal activities from prison; an extension of sexual offences prevention orders to better safeguard the public; and new provisions to protect the public from exposure to extreme pornographic material. The Bill would also include measures to help detection of crime, and to make sentences served in the community more robust, immediate, and visible.
Source: Revitalising Justice: Proposals to modernise and improve the criminal justice system, Scottish Government (0131 244 7050)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined the effects of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004, which introduced a range of measures intended to help child and adult vulnerable witnesses give their best evidence in court. The Act was contributing to an increasing awareness of the needs of vulnerable witnesses, and was generally welcomed by interviewees.
Source: Patsy Richards, Sue Morris and Eddie Richards, Turning Up the Volume: The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Aug
A report provided an overview of crime and justice policies in Scotland in 2006-07. It said that the high use of imprisonment did not benefit Scotland's communities nor make them safer places to live.
Source: Crime & Justice in Scotland 2006/07: A third review of progress, Scottish Consortium on Crime & Criminal Justice (0131 669 4484)
Links: Report | SCCCJ press release
Date: 2008-Aug
A literature review examined evidence on the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people.
Source: Cathy Humphreys, Claire Houghton and Jane Ellis, Literature Review: Better Outcomes for Children and Young People Experiencing Domestic Abuse – Directions for good practice, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Aug
The police service inspectorate in Scotland made recommendations aimed at helping the police to improve the way they dealt with crimes and victims of domestic abuse.
Source: Thematic Inspection: Domestic Abuse, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Aug
The report was published of an independent Commission's examination of the purpose and impact of imprisonment in Scotland. It said that Scotland's prisons held too many prisoners on short sentences where there was no real expectation of being able to punish, rehabilitate, or deter.
Source: Scotland's Choice, Scottish Prisons Commission/Scottish Government, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Jul
The Scottish Government introduced a Bill to reform the law on rape and sexual offences, based on proposals from the Scottish Law Commission. For the first time it defined 'consent' in law, and replaced the common-law offence of rape with a broader statutory offence (including male rape). It introduced new statutory offences dealing with sexual exposure, particularly in non-public places; the 'spiking' of drinks for sexual purposes; and coercive sexual conduct, including sexually offensive emails or texts.
Source: Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
The Scottish Government published a strategy designed to tackle the causes and effects of offending by young people, based on prevention, and on early and effective intervention.
Source: Preventing Offending by Young People: A framework for action, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Links: Strategy | LTS press release
Date: 2008-Jun
A think-tank report said that drug and alcohol misuse in Scotland could be halved within 20 years by shifting more resources towards prevention and treatment.
Source: Approaches to Alcohol and Drugs in Scotland: A question of architecture, Scotland's Futures Forum (0131 348 5310)
Links: Report | Summary | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
The police service inspectorate in Scotland recommended an overhaul of the way children were treated by the law. It said that children should only be detained in custody with permission from a high-ranking officer.
Source: Care of Detained and Arrested Children, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (web publication only)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2008-Jun
The Scottish Government published a strategy aimed at cutting the estimated annual £2.6 billion financial burden of problem drug use to the Scottish economy and society. It said that tackling problem drug use required effective policies on the economy, tackling poverty, and supporting families and children.
Source: The Road to Recovery: A new approach to tackling Scotland's drug problem, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Strategy | SG press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-May
A report by a committee of MSPs examined a Bill to strengthen judges' independence and modernize the administration of Scotland's courts. The Committee said that it agreed with the general principles of the Bill.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill, 11th Report 2008, SP Paper 91, Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum
Date: 2008-May
A new book examined policing, crime control, and community safety policies in the context of urban restructuring in old-industrial cities, drawing on a study of the making and remaking of urban spaces in the city of Glasgow (Scotland).
Source: Gesa Helms, Towards Safe City Centres? Remaking the spaces of an old-industrial city, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
An audit report urged the Scottish Government to produce 'clear plans' for coping with the growing prison population. Prisoner numbers had already risen by 20 per cent since 2000, and could rise by the same again by 2016. 11 of the country's 14 prisons were overcrowded.
Source: Managing Increasing Prisoner Numbers in Scotland, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Summary | Audit Scotland press release | SG press release | BBC report | Scotsman report
Date: 2008-May
A report by a committee of MSPs said that police resources were inadequate to meet commitments. It called for a fundamental and independent review of the police role and responsibilities, and highlighted a number of areas where improvements could be made in the operation and governance of the police, as well as areas of further scrutiny.
Source: Report on Inquiry into the Effective Use of Police Resources, 4th Report 2008, SP Paper 50, Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | SLP press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jan
The Scottish Government announced that it would support proposals put forward by an MSP to extend the law on hate crime to include disabled people and those from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered communities.
Source: Press release 15 January 2008, Scottish Government (0131 556 8400)
Links: SG press release | EHRC press release | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jan
The Scottish Government published a Bill to strengthen judges' independence and modernize the administration of Scotland's courts. All the country's courts would be brought under the administration of the Lord President, the head of the Scottish judiciary.
Source: Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SG press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jan
