The Glasgow Law Practice

The Crown Office has published a report on Hate Crime in Scotland during 2011-12, which brings together figures on race crime, and on crime motivated by prejudice related to religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

The main findings include:

• The number of charges reported to the Procurator Fiscal in 2011-12 increased for all categories of hate crime. This is likely to have been partly due to increased awareness, reporting and recording of these crimes following several incidents relating to religious prejudice which received significant media attention during the year.
• In total 4,518 charges of race crime were reported to the Procurator Fiscal in 2011-12, compared to 4,178 in 2010-11, an increase of 8%, and the highest number reported in the six years covered by the publication. Court proceedings were commenced in respect of 81% of these charges.
• There were 897 charges with a religious aggravation reported to the Procurator Fiscal in 2011-12, compared to 695 in 2010-11, an increase of 29% and the highest number since the relevant legislation came into force. Court proceedings were commenced in respect of 86% of charges.
• In 2011-12 which is the second full year of implementation of the legislation relating to the newer hate crime categories, 652 charges were reported with an aggravation of sexual orientation (447 in 2010-11), 68 with an aggravation of disability (48 in 2010-11), and 16 with an aggravation of transgender identity (14 in 2010-11).

House prices have more than doubled in three seaside towns on Scotland’s north-east coast since 2004, according to the latest research from Bank of Scotland.

Macduff and Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire recorded the biggest rises over the past eight years with the average house price increasing in both by 123%. The average price in Macduff is now at £130,025 and £119,425 in Fraserburgh. Cove Bay in Aberdeen recorded the next largest rise with an increase of 105% during the same period.

A further 18 coastal towns recorded price increases of at least 50%. They include Montrose (82%), Campbeltown (80%), Peterhead and Banff (both 79%). Since 2004, the average house price in seaside towns rose by 36%; slightly lower than the 38% increase in the whole of Scotland.

There is a marked East-West divide in house prices in Scottish seaside towns. Seven of the ten most expensive are on the eastern coastline. North Berwick is the most expensive seaside town in Scotland with an average house price of £309,676. St. Andrews is the second most expensive with an average price of £277,344, followed by Crail (£209,688) and Stonehaven (£197,530).

On the other hand, six of the ten least expensive seaside towns are in western Scotland. They include Greenock (£85,212), Girvan (£85,961), Irvine (£89,727) and Ardrossan (£91,052). However, the least expensive seaside town in Scotland is Buckhaven on the east coast with an average house price of £68,350.

New rules being proposed by the European Parliament would provide greater support for police forces in conducting investigations in other European countries.

The proposed European Investigation Order (EIO) would make it easier for police to obtain evidence in another EU country where this is necessary as part of their criminal investigation. For example, if Scottish police were tracking criminals who were currently to be found in France, they could ask the local French police to carry out a house search or interview witnesses there.

Under the proposed rules, an EIO would not be executed if it harmed national security interests or immunities or if the requested measure was not authorised by the law of the Member State whose police are asked to gather the evidence.

MEPs say that it should be possible to refuse an EIO if the measure requested were to breach a fundamental right or contradict a constitutional principle, if it were not validated by a judge in countries where this requirement exists or if it were to breach national rules limiting criminal liability relating to freedom of the press.

A Member State would have up to 30 days to decide whether or not to accept an EIO request. If accepted, there would then be a 90-day deadline for gathering the evidence. Any delay should be reported to the EU country issuing the EIO. MEPs agreed with these deadlines as they should ensure that investigations of transnational crimes are not delayed without justification.

Positive signals have emerged for the housing market in the first quarter of 2012 with a rise in the number of British homeowners who expect house prices to climb over the next six months.

According to the latest Zoopla.co.uk Housing Market Sentiment Survey, two out of three (67%) British homeowners are confident of house prices rising by the Autumn. This is the highest proportion of homeowners predicting property price growth since the first half of 2010 and in stark contrast to sentiment at the end of 2011 when only 55% of owners were predicting prices to climb.

In addition to the rise in overall confidence, homeowners are also more bullish now about how much they expect average house prices to rise over the next six months. At the end of 2011, owners expected prices in their local area to increase 2.2% on average. Over the last quarter this has risen to 3.9% - again, the highest price growth expectation in almost two years.

There has also been an improvement in sentiment towards mortgage financing with an increase in the number of property owners reporting that it is now easier to secure a mortgage than it was at the end of 2011. 17% of respondents believe mortgage availability has improved, up from 11% last quarter.

Million pound property sales have fallen to their lowest level since 2009, according to research by Bank of Scotland.

There were 132 property sales worth at least one million pounds in Scotland in 2011, a fall of 11% from 148 in 2010. This is the lowest number of sales since 2009 and more than double the percentage decline across the UK as a whole (-5%). In total, there are now an estimated 3,000 homes in Scotland worth at least one million pounds.

The 11% fall in million pound property sales in 2011 was almost double the fall in sales across the rest of the housing market. Overall, total home sales in Scotland fell by 6% from 74,747 in 2010 to 70,035 in 2011.

In Edinburgh in 2011, 61 homes were sold for at least one million pounds, accounting for 46% of all million pound sales in Scotland. This was substantially higher than anywhere else in Scotland and the second highest in Britain outside of the South East of England and London. Aberdeen City (13) recorded the second highest number of million pound sales in Scotland, followed by Glasgow (8).

Over the past year, Edinburgh (-13%) was the only one of these three Scottish cities to see a fall in million pound sales. Aberdeenshire and East Renfrewshire were among the other areas to experience a decrease in sales in Scotland.

A national problem profile published by the Association of Chief Police Officers shows the commercial cultivation of cannabis continues to pose a significant risk to the UK with increasing numbers of farms being detected by police.

The problem profile, which is the third to be published since 2008, shows an increasing number of farms being detected; 7,865 projected for 2011/12 compared with 6,866 in 2009/10 when the last problem profile was published.

Key findings from the report include:

- Over 1.1 million plants with an estimated street value of £207 million were recovered during the two-year survey period.
- The number of cannabis production offences continues to rise with 16,464 offences projected for 2011/12 up from 14,982 offences recorded in 2010/11.
- There is a shift back to smaller residential or domestic premises as opposed to large-scale commercial and industrial property.
- There is an emergence of the “multiple site” model whereby a large number of people are employed to manage small scale factories across multiple residential areas.
- Cannabis remains the most commonly used illegal drug in the UK and is the most prevalent drug seized by law enforcement agencies.
- Intelligence suggests the purchase of seeds and equipment from local hydroponics and head shops is on the increase. This may result in an increase in small-scale cultivations feeding social supply.

People living in Scotland are becoming increasingly confident in the outlook for the housing market, according to the latest Bank of Scotland Housing Market Confidence tracker. One in three (33%) respondents predict that house prices will increase over the next year, higher than the proportion that believe house prices will fall (23%).

The Justice Secretary has hailed the success of a pilot project to tackle youth offending, which has seen a major reduction in crimes committed by young people.

Lending to both first-time buyers and home movers increased in February with first-time buyers taking the bigger increase, according to figures released from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Plans to make criminals who assault police officers in the line of duty pay for their crimes have been unveiled by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

Potential buyers continued to test the market during March as the stamp duty holiday finally came to an end, says the latest RICS UK Housing Market Survey.

Anyone arrested with a knife in Scotland’s town and city centres will now be prosecuted before a Sheriff and jury, resulting in a potential increase of a maximum prison term from one year to four years.

Cyber attacks on IT systems would become a criminal offence punishable by at least two years in prison throughout the EU under a draft law backed by the European Civil Liberties Committee. Possessing or distributing hacking software and tools would also be an offence, and companies would be liable for cyber attacks committed for their benefit.

Less than 0.5% of homes in Britain will be affected by the increase in the stamp duty rate for multi-million pound homes announced in the recent budget, according to research by Lloyds TSB.

Scotland is getting even tougher on those who commit corrosive “hate crimes” based on prejudice, the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC, has said.

Both house purchase and remortgage lending fell in January, according to new data released from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The 'World's End' murders of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie are being investigated by Lothian and Borders Police following a review by prosecutors, the Crown Office has confirmed.

With 26 towns in the UK – including Perth and Dumfries - applying for city status as part of this year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Bank of Scotland has looked back at how house prices in cities have performed over the past 25 years.

New EU legislation adopted by the European Council has given Europe stronger regulations to effectively fight illegal arms trafficking. The legislation establishes requirements for exports, imports and transit licensing, and makes it easier to track weapons.

Up to 6,000 first-time buyers and others aspiring to purchase a new build home are set to receive a boost, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil has revealed.