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 2024
Over the years our policy positions have guided our interactions with, and statements to, the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish...
Remand
- Scotland remands into pre-trial custody a disproportionately high number of people in comparison to...
Deaths in Custody
- There are too many people dying in custody and that number is increasing. Between 2012 and 2022, 350...
Progression
- Progression is the process by which prisoners move from more to less secure conditions within the...
Transgender Prisoners
- We have discussed the issue of ‘Transgender prisoners and women’s prisons’, and consulted our...
Children
- Children who come into conflict with the criminal law in Scotland, do not currently enjoy the full...
Life Sentences
- One aspect of our over-reliance on imprisonment is the number and length of life sentences that our...
Home Detention Curfew (HDC)
- Home Detention Curfew (HDC), or a ‘tag’ as it is commonly known, is a scheme that allows certain...
Non-Custodial Sentences
- There is no evidence to support the view that prison is in general a more effective deterrent than...
Disclosure
- Evidence indicates that anticipated stigma and the repeated encountering of obstacles to obtaining...
Women Offenders
- In response to concerns about women’s justice in Scotland, a Commission on Women Offenders was...
Restorative Justice (RJ)
- Restorative justice is a process of independent, facilitated contact between a person who has been...
Prisoner Voting
- Scotland should legislate to remove the ban on prisoner voting: voting is too hard-won a fundamental...
Electronic Monitoring (EM)
- We believe that Electronic Monitoring (EM) could be used as a ‘mid-point’ between remand and bail,...