MSPs have called on the Scottish Government to repeal the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, claiming that is badly written and unnecessary, reports the BBC.

The Scottish Government has announced that it intends to expand the use of electronic tags to help reduce reoffending levels and keep communities safe.

Efforts by police to crackdown on uninsured driving have led to a 4% increase in the number of seizures of uninsured vehicles, figures from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) have revealed.

More than half of drivers in the 25 – 34 age-group are risking getting charged with motoring offences for texting, using apps or going online on their mobiles when they are behind the wheel, according to a new study by road safety charity Brake.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has called for a full-scale review of the UK’s hate crime laws and strategies as part of a new national drive to defeat the rise in race hate crime.

New research by road safety charity Brake has apparently found strong support for strengthening both the charges and sentences faced by criminal drivers.

The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has recently published a report entitled Hate Crime in Scotland 2015-16.

Legislation designed to tackle sectarian behaviour at football matches is working well, according to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

The Scottish Court Service (SCS) has announced that 45 cars have been targeted nationwide during the past two months, as part of its measures to collect unpaid fines.

A recent Audit Scotland report, Reducing reoffending in Scotland, has looked at the efficiency and effectiveness of approaches taken to address the problem of reoffending.

Funding has been awarded by the Scottish Government to 23 organisations working across Scotland to help break the cycle of reoffending.

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 Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) has launched a new campaign across Scotland to highlight recent changes to the law on rape. The campaign also aims to change attitudes to rape and other sexual assaults.

The Scottish Government has outlined its legislative priorities for 2012-13, in which Scottish Ministers aim to create a safer and stronger Scotland.

All registered sex offenders in England and Wales now face much tougher checks. The new measures are intended to tighten areas of the current law that could be open to exploitation by offenders who seek to cause harm.

The changes, which the government announced in March this year following a 12 week consultation, will make it mandatory for sex offenders to notify the police:

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.”

Overall crime measured by the 2011/12 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW, formerly the British Crime Survey) was unchanged from the previous year, according to the latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

However, the provisional number of homicides (550) recorded by the police in 2011/12 dropped by 14% to the lowest level since 1983 (also 550).

Crimes recorded by the police fell by 4% in 2011/12, continuing the downward trend seen in recent years. Just under four million offences were recorded by the police, the lowest since 2002/03. Overall police recorded violent crime in England and Wales dropped by 7% (from 822,000 offences in 2010/11 to 763,000 offences in 2011/12) and robberies by 2%.

While burglary and vehicle theft recorded by the police also fell, other theft offences have risen by 2%, following a 4% rise the previous year. This was driven by increases in theft of unattended property (including personal property and commercial property such as metal), thefts from the person (such as pickpocketing), bicycle theft and shoplifting.

While the latest figures from the CSEW show no change in overall levels of acquisitive crime, this should be viewed in the context of large reductions since the mid 1990s. The latest estimates indicate that five in every 100 vehicle-owning households were victims of vehicle-related theft compared with 20 in 100 in 1995.

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."

Three senior procurators fiscal have been appointed to lead new prosecution ‘networks’ covering local Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) offices across Scotland.

The three ‘networks’ structure (North; East; and West) has replaced the COPFS previous eleven ‘area’ structure. The appointment of the new senior procurators fiscal: John Dunn (West); David Harvie (North); and John Logue (East), was announced by the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC.

The restructuring will allow the COPFS to use its technology to the full, with teams of staff from around Scotland working together to make the best use of resources and provide a more efficient and effective service to the public.

Specialism in all prosecution work is now at the core of the COPFS with the introduction of the new structure.

The move builds on the approach already taken at a national level where specialist prosecutors are already embedded in areas of work such as: Sexual Crime; Serious and Organised Crime; Health and Safety, and have delivered significant results.