Penal Policy

Effects of New Covid19 Variant

Thursday, April 15, 2021 - 11:46

During January 2021 and in response to the increasing spread of the new variant of COVID-19 across Scotland, a number of measures were advised:

- the Lord President announced that criminal courts would focus on the most serious trials and the majority of summary trials in the Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court would be adjourned. This was estimated to reduce the overall number of criminal trials taking place during lockdown by up to 75%

- Social Work Scotland announced that for the same reason, face to face unpaid work as part of CPOs would be suspended as part of the current lockdown

- HMIPS announced that they had taken the decision to suspend on-site monitoring and liaison visits to prisons and Court Custody Units - a decision that would be reviewed on a fortnightly basis.

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Justice Committee Evidence Session - Covid19 Effects on Criminal Justice System

Thursday, April 15, 2021 - 10:43

On 18 August 2020, the Justice Committee took evidence from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and Teresa Medhurst (Interim Chief Executive of SPS). It heard that the court backlog could take 8-10 years to clear; that cell doubling up is returning; that new prison rules will be extended again from the end of September, but won’t include those relating to provision of food, access to showers and clean clothing which are to revert to normal regime; that unpaid work variations are being considered; that unspecified alternatives to remand are being considered; and importantly, a commitment was made not to return to pre-COVID prison population levels with a further executive release to be considered if required.

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Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act - Electronic Monitoring

Thursday, April 15, 2021 - 10:32

On 11 August 2020, a Ministerial Statement from the Cabinet Secretary advised of plans to introduce regulations to enable electronic monitoring of bail through the Management of Offenders  (Scotland) Act 2019. We would have liked to have seen this included in the primary legislation to help reduce the number of people being held on remand, however, welcome acknowledgement of the need for secondary legislation to allow for this.

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Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2018-19

Monday, November 16, 2020 - 11:51

On 16 June 2020, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2018-19 was published. (An updated version, which supersedes the original, was published in October 2020.) The report covers 5,537 interviews conducted between April 2018 and May 2019 and presents statistics on the extent of crime in Scotland, importantly including crime that is not reported to the police, although does not cover all crime types*.

It found that the volume of crime in Scotland, including incidents not reported to the police, fell by 45% over the last decade and by 20% since 2016/17.  The proportion of adults experiencing crime decreased from one-in-five to one-in-eight between 2008/09 and 2018/19. Consistent with previous years, the majority of violent incidents - which made up 29% of all crimes - were cases of minor assault resulting in no or negligible injury (60%), with instances of serious assault (7%) and robbery (3%) remaining relatively uncommon.

Victims of two or more incidents (3.5% of adults) accounted for over half (55%) of all crime in 2018/19, with repeat victims of violence (0.7% adults) estimated to have experienced three-fifths (60%) of all violent crime in 2018/19.

It found that the the likelihood of being a victim of any crime in 2018/19 was higher for those living in the most deprived areas of Scotland, and that violent crime continues to be experienced disproportionately among some groups in the population. 

*experiences of sexual offences are not included in the main estimates 

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Jackie Tombs – A Note of Appreciation

Thursday, August 20, 2020 - 12:44

We at HLS are sad to report the death of Professor Jacqueline Tombs, following a short illness. Jackie was a stalwart supporter of HLS and a former committee member. Her passionate support for penal change reflected her lifelong commitment to fairness, social justice and decency – qualities that were evident to all who knew her in everything she did.

Jackie was a significant figure in criminal justice policy and research throughout her career and in a range of different roles. She was formerly Head of the Central Research Unit in the then Scottish Executive, during a period when it was noted for producing imaginative and challenging policy research.  A number of highly distinguished researchers – including Lesley McAra, Susan McVie and Michele Burman – began their careers there under her mentorship.

Later on, she was successively Professor of Criminology at Stirling, and Professor of Criminology and Social Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University. She was a founding and key member of the Scottish Consortium on Crime and Criminal Justice, for whom she wrote the important and insightful study A Unique Punishment: Sentencing and the Prison Population in Scotland (2004).  Few people – if indeed any other – have done so much to maintain the vital links between research-based knowledge and policy in Scotland.

Jackie never lost her radical convictions, and she was not afraid to voice her views with passion and force in any context. Yet her innate empathy and her grasp of complex situations always enabled her to see others’ points of view. That made her a unifying figure, as comfortable among senior judges as among prison abolitionists, and held in similar affection and esteem by both. 

Jackie was a vital and energizing person, fiercely loyal both to people and to causes. HLS, the worlds of criminal justice policy and criminological research in Scotland all owe her many debts. We send our greetings and condolences to her children Gael and Mark and all her other family and friends.  She will be well remembered and greatly missed.

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