Glasgow Solicitors Blog from The GLP

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.

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.

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

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 European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has urged Member States to minimise the use of solitary confinement of prisoners. This measure should be applied only in exceptional circumstances and for the shortest possible period of time.

A man and a woman have been sentenced at the Sheriff Court at Glasgow to 44 months and 18 months imprisonment respectively after pleading guilty to human trafficking, in a contravention of Section 22(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003.

Scotland's Chief Statistician has published Reconviction rates in Scotland 2007-08 and 2008-09 offender cohorts, which show the two year reconviction rate in Scotland has dropped to its lowest level in eleven years.

Scotland's Chief Statistician has published Prison Statistics Scotland 2010-11. This contains information on the Scottish prison population, including daily average population by type of custody and establishment, characteristics of prisoners, and numbers of receptions to / liberations from penal establishments.

A new report, based on research carried out in London, has suggested that community-based alternatives to prison should be used to punish the majority of people convicted of minor offences.

First time offenders in Scotland who are found in possession of a knife now face more serious penalties with a strengthening of the current prosecution policy. The Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC has announced changes which will target offenders and specific types of offending that pose significant danger to others.