Policy
Howard League Scotland often responds to consultations with its views on proposed changes or reforms in the Criminal Justice system and has put forward written and oral evidence to the Committees of the Scottish Parliament.
Policy Updates 2023
Over the years our policy positions have guided our interactions with, and statements to, the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish...
Vision for Scottish Penal Reform 2018
Howard League Scotland: Conviction and Citizenship, Penal Reform for 2018
The centenary of women’s right...
Remand
Statement in response to a media enquiry on the use of remand (November 2015):
The number of people held on remand in...
Developmental and learning disabilities in prison
Statement given in response to a media enquiry on developmental and learning disabilities in prison (March 2015):
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Suicides in prison
Statement given in response to a media enquiry about the number of attempted suicides in Scottish prisons (September 2016):
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Judiciary
The judiciary should be encouraged to support all endeavours to make better use of community penalties by giving them relevant...
Work in Prison
Meaningful work should be provided in prison. There are a number of programmes available in Scottish prisons. For instance, the bicycle...
Rehabilitation and Resettlement
The reoffending rates for those leaving Scottish prisons is too high. If Scotland is to break the cycle of offending, those leaving...
Children of Those in Custody
Howard League Scotland supports the recommendations made by Scotland’s Commission for Children and Young People in the 2008 report "...
Mental Health and Learning Difficulties
It remains the case that people with mental health problems are over-represented in prison, where facilities remain inadequate for their...
Young People who Offend
Custody is most damaging to young people and HLS believes that Scotland should legislate to stop sending young people under the age of...
Custody
Imprisonment is the harshest sanction the state can impose upon one of its citizens. HLS, therefore, concurs with the findings of Henry...
Violence
There is a serious problem with violent behaviour in Scotland. Every effort should be made to eradicate it by tackling the excessive use...
Drug Treatment and Testing Orders
Scotland is right to be proud of its Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO) system and their availability needs to be extended to all...
Drug and Alcohol Misuse
Dealing effectively with Scotland’s drug and alcohol problems is of major importance to tackling crime and criminal behaviour.
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Early Intervention
According to the Scottish Government’s Early Years Framework “the early years provide the first and best opportunity to set children off...
Disadvantage
Those who end up in custody tend to hail from our most disadvantaged communities. Research carried out by former prison governor...
Justice Budget 2014/15
Howard League for Penal Reform Scotland took this opportunity to highlight the financial benefits of a more community orientated justice...
Women Offenders
Scotland’s female prison population has doubled in the space of a decade. Howard League Scotland supports the recommendations set out in...
Restorative Justice (“RJ”)
Analysis carried out by Canadian and Australian researchers revealed that both victims and offenders reported greater satisfaction with...
Prisoner Voting
In 2013 Howard League Scotland campaigned to highlight the issue of prisoner voting rights in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum...
Post-Release Supervision
In respect of post-release supervision, we welcome the mentoring scheme being introduced for women and we recommend the following:
...Electronic Monitoring (“EM”)
A thorough review should be made of the use of electronic monitoring in Scotland before the next contracts are drawn up in 2017. The...
Community Payback
HLS welcomed the introduction of the Community Payback Order (CPO) in February 2011. We believe the CPO must be structured and resourced...