Criminal Defence Lawyers Edinburgh

‘Kerb crawlers’ trying to pick up prostitutes are being warned that they could face disqualification from driving in addition to any other sentence that a court can impose.

The Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Act came into force on 24th September, and closed a legal loophole which arose following the Appeal Court's judgement in the case of Petch and Foye v. HMA. The loophole had meant that prisoners given a discretionary life sentence or Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) could apply to become eligible for parole earlier than those serving sentences of a fixed length.

The Law Society of Scotland has raised serious concerns over the detail of new legislation which introduces financial contributions for many of those receiving criminal legal aid.

Submitting its written evidence to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, the Society said the threshold at which contributions would become payable was too low. It also argued that the Scottish Legal Aid Board rather than solicitors should collect the contributions to ensure a consistent system.

The Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Bill was introduced in May this year. The legislation would establish a Civil Justice Council and introduce financial contributions for criminal legal aid for the first time.

The Society has consistently supported the principle of contributions in criminal legal aid but has raised a series of concerns over the detail of the Scottish Government's proposals.

Oliver Adair, the convener of the Society's legal aid negotiating team, said:

"We agree that people who can afford to pay a portion of the cost of their legal aid should do, provided they can afford it.

"However the Bill proposes that the threshold for determining whether a contribution is payable should be £68 disposable income a week. We do not believe that is a realistic amount from which to expect anybody to pay towards their legal costs.”

Providing more help and support for victims and witnesses whilst making offenders more accountable for their crimes is key to building a better criminal justice system, the Justice Secretary has said.

Ahead of the Bill to support victims and witnesses, the Scottish Government has published a consultation to hear views on what measures would have the most impact. 

During the eight week consultation, interested groups will be encouraged to give their views on the consultation proposals, which include:

The long term downward trend in crime on Britain’s rail systems has continued with a 9.1% fall in notifiable crime in 2011/12, the eighth successive year crime has gone down.

Figures for twelve crime groups published by British Transport Police show that violent crime fell by 2.9%, whilst robberies were down 9.6% and vandalism (criminal damage) by 21.6%. Theft also fell, with theft of passengers’ property down 10.4% and theft of railway property down 12.8%.

In 2011/12, BTP also achieved all eleven of its national policing plan targets and 43 out of 47 local targets. National targets include reducing crime, disruption and anti-social behaviour whilst improving value for money.

Crime on the railways over the past five years has fallen by over 30%.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has issued guidance on the intentional or reckless sexual transmission of, or exposure to, sexually transmitted infections.

The policy has been drawn up in consultation with the Public Health Sector and other interested groups, including the Terrence Higgins Trust, HIV Scotland and the National AIDS Trust.

COPFS is one of the few prosecution services worldwide who have proactively published their prosecution guidance on this issue.

The Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC, said:

“This policy sets out clear guidance to prosecutors on cases where there is an allegation of sexual transmission of, or exposure to, infections which have serious, and potentially life-threatening consequences for the person infected.

“In preparing this policy, we have consulted closely with the public health sector alongside health charities and interest groups.

"We are publishing this guidance because we recognise that it is important to provide clarity and consistency on this area of the law. We also recognise the devastating effect that such diseases can have, and we will prosecute where it is in the public interest to do so, taking into account the rights of both victim and accused as well as any public health concerns."

Further to our recent blog post regarding the grant of a Confiscation Order for £81,744.68 against a convicted Scottish criminal, the High Court in Edinburgh has granted further Confiscation Orders against two convicted drug dealers from Glasgow and Dunfermline.

The Scottish Police Federation has suggested that a “more sophisticated approach” is required to deal with knife crime in Scotland. It claims that while the threat of jail for those carrying knives on streets may be a useful one in that context, the fact that the majority of knife crime appears to be committed in the home renders this punishment largely ineffective.

The Lord Advocate is to refer five cases to the UK Supreme Court for a further ruling as to the scope of the Cadder v HMA decision which was handed down by last October by the Supreme Court.