Glasgow Solicitors Blog from The GLP

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 has come into force to stamp out offensive and religious hatred at football.

A Confiscation Order for £4,444 has been made at Edinburgh Sheriff Court against a 25-year-old man serving a prison sentence for drugs offences. A Confiscation Order is an order made by the court following criminal conviction, to pay a fixed sum of money from the proceeds of crime.

A dedicated domestic abuse court is to open in Livingston as part of a new multi-agency pilot to improve how the criminal justice system handles domestic abuse crimes.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scotland’s sole prosecuting authority, has launched a pilot to text witnesses to remind them to attend court.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has announced that Strathclyde Police are to carry out a further investigation into the murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar, who was killed in 1998. The investigation is to be carried out under Double Jeopardy legislation introduced in November last year.

The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act has received Royal Assent, the Minister for Community Safety has announced.

A report by a team of experts commissioned by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) says that Britain is failing to prevent youth crime, and it concludes that a bold new approach is required to transform the lives of child offenders.

The Parole Board for Scotland has published its Annual Report 2010-11.The report shows, among other things, that out of 606 determinate sentence prisoners whose cases were referred to the Board, 170 (or 28%) were recommended for release on parole.

The courts in Scotland impose bail conditions on a daily basis and the decision to grant bail by a Judge , Sheriff or Magistrate can often be considered controversial depending on the circumstances of a case. An accused person requires to be fully aware of the implications of being on bail and the consequences should the bail order be breached in any way. Charles Drummond of The Glasgow Law Practice has produced a helpful guide on this topic.

Alcohol-fuelled violence is costing lives, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has said as statistics showed 97 people were victims of murder last year, with the vast majority of those accused under the influence of alcohol or drugs.