Tag: justice system

Creating a National Care Service

Community engagement funding to ensure groups are heard

Third sector organisations are being awarded new funding to help ensure as many voices as possible are contributing to the design of the National Care Service.

The funding will facilitate contributions from minority ethnic communities, LGBTI people, children and young people and those with experience of homelessness or the justice system.

Organisations will each receive £5,000 to encourage the communities they work with to have their say on how future community healthcare and social work services should look.

Social Care Minister Maree Todd said: “As we build a National Care Service that best fits the needs of everyone in Scotland, we need to hear from people directly.

“The new National Care Service will set the standards and guidance to support the design and delivery of community healthcare and social work services locally.

“The complexities of getting this right should not be underestimated. People with experience of the current system, whether receiving health and care support or delivering it, are the experts. We need to hear those voices – and those of groups who are often overlooked.

“We know that minority ethnic communities, LGBTI people, children and young people and those with experience of homelessness or the justice system are under-represented in our co-design work to date. We also know that people affected by dementia are a key group we want to hear more from and we will benefit from partnering with an organisation with expertise in this area.

“I am confident the funding to support co-design activity with seldom heard communities will help us shape a system we can all benefit from and be proud of.”

The partner organisations are:

  • LGBT Health and Wellbeing
  • Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project (MECOPP)
  • The Simon Community
  • Scottish Association for the Care and Resettlement of offenders (SACRO) 
  • Alzheimer Scotland

Understanding women’s experience of justice

‘Reducing re-traumatisation will promote equality’ – report

Work to reduce the re-traumatisation of victims and witnesses of crime will help promote equality in Scotland’s justice system, according to some of the most senior women leaders in the sector.

Solicitor General Ruth Charteris KC, Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan from Police Scotland and Jen Ang of the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre are among eight co-authors of an independent report that aims to help give policy-makers and agencies a clearer understanding of how women’s experiences of justice differs from men and what can be done to improve those experiences.

Commissioned through the Women in Justice Leadership Panel, the report brings together evidence gathered from across Scotland’s justice system. Its findings conclude that supporting women in ways which met their individual needs could have a powerful impact of on their perception of justice – leading to greater trust in the system.  

The conclusions back Scottish Government-funded work already underway to embed trauma-informed practice across the justice system – a key aim of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The report is being shared with the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls, which advises the First Minister on how to tackle gender inequality in Scotland.  

Minister for Victims and Community Safety Siobhian Brown said: “I am grateful to the senior female leaders in Scotland’s justice sector who have taken the time to examine the system in the round.

“Their report puts forward the case for policy-making within justice that reflects women’s various social identities, such as race, disability or religion, so that their experiences can be improved.

“I thank everyone who contributed to the report, since it is their specialist knowledge and testimonies which have provided a clear and unambiguous foundation to inform and influence key justice partners and beyond.

“The conclusions are owned by the Panel members, who will use their influence and positions to effect change. These findings will help the Scottish Government change and deliver a justice sector which is truly responsive to the needs of women and girls.”

Read ’The Case for Gendered and Intersectional Approaches to Justice’ 

Victims’ consultation launches

Putting people at the heart of the justice system

A consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system, with a particular focus on sexual offences, has opened.

It takes forward the work of the Victims Taskforce and Programme for Government commitments to establish a Victims’ Commissioner, introduce a statutory right to anonymity for complainers in sexual offence cases and carefully consider the recommendations from Lady Dorrian’s Review into the management of sexual offence cases.

The 12 week consultation is part of a wide-ranging programme of work to transform the justice system and deliver the Scottish Government’s new Vision for Justice in Scotland.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: “The Scottish Government recognises that the justice system can be distressing and re-traumatising for those who come into contact with it. We are committed to improving victims’ experiences of the system by putting them at its centre.

“This consultation explores how to do this by making the justice system more trauma informed and person centred.

“It is an important part of far-reaching and ambitious plans to bring about transformational change necessary to ensure our justice system is trusted, modern, smart and effective.

“We will continue to take an open and collaborative approach to achieve this aim, and this consultation will seek to capture the views of legal professionals, the third sector and those with experience of the system.”

A ‘bold new vision’ for Scottish justice

A vision to transform Scotland’s justice sector through the COVID-19 recovery period and beyond has been published.

The new strategy will enshrine key priorities – making sure victims voices are heard, placing women and children at the heart of service delivery and reassessing the role that prisons and the use of imprisonment should play.

Specifically:

  • Victims will take a more prominent role in cases, experience fewer delays and be supported in their recovery. A Victims’ Commissioner will be appointed and there will be increased use of pre-recorded evidence. Restorative Justice services will also be made available across Scotland by 2023.
  • As well as an ambition to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls by tackling societal attitudes of misogyny and gender inequality, the vision prioritises systemic changes to improve the experiences of women and children building on the recommendations of Lady Dorrian’s report on the Management of Sexual Offences and ensuring access to Bairns’ Hoose for every child victim or witness who needs it.
  • Prison will always be needed for the most serious offences to ensure safety, but with evidence demonstrating community interventions are more effective than short prison sentences at reducing reoffending, the strategy seeks to reduce the need for imprisonment through early intervention and providing greater access to community justice alternatives. 

The vision will be underpinned by a requirement for the whole sector to ensure people are treated with empathy and kindness, for example by avoiding additional trauma by having to retell their stories.

The plan also enshrines the need for collaborative work across public services to improve outcomes for individuals, focussing on prevention and early intervention.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: “This bold new vision will deliver a just, safe, and resilient sector with the needs of victims very firmly at its centre.

“Transforming the way we view and deliver justice in Scotland will ensure we properly support the most vulnerable in our society, creating a fair system that fulfils and meets the human rights of all who use it.

“This strategic blueprint sets out key priority areas including improving the experience of women and girls in a justice system historically designed by men, taking forward reform to address inequalities. It also stresses the need for a fresh look at the use of custody and firmly puts victims and the needs of victims at its centre.

“Underpinning this, the vision makes clear the need for services to be person centred and trauma informed to avoid re-traumatising people as they journey through the system. And, fundamentally, it stresses the importance of holistic early interventions that leverage the whole of government and public services to reduce offending and the causes of offending at the outset.

“I am determined to drive change and deliver better outcomes through our public services and this new framework envisions the best way to do that. We can and will deliver justice services which meet the needs of modern Scottish society.”

vision-justice-scotland-2022Download

Scottish Government sets up new Women’s Justice Leadership Panel

Experts to assess needs of women in the justice system

Gender inequality and improving women’s experiences within the justice system will be addressed by a new Scottish Government panel.

Members will examine the experiences of women as both victims and offenders in a range of settings including policing, community justice, criminal and civil courts, tribunals and prisons.

The Women’s Justice Leadership Panel, which met for the first time yesterday, will be chaired by Community Safety Minister Ash Regan.

Membership includes Solicitor General Ruth Charteris QC, academics and representatives from the Scottish Prison Service, Police Scotland, Community Justice Scotland, the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre and the Centre for Women’s Justice.

Key issues for the panel include:

  • how women experience the Scottish justice system differently from men, in what ways their needs are not being met and how it impacts on them
  • international and UK examples where women’s needs are more appropriately met
  • how to address under-representation of women in senior leadership roles and how this impacts on the culture in justice organisations

Ms Regan said: “The Scottish justice system needs to evolve to ensure it serves the needs of women. For example, issues like the impact of caring responsibilities on women or the blurred line between victimisation and offender status are issues which could be understood better.

“Some significant improvements have been made, but often changes are piecemeal and do not provide the fundamental reform needed to embed women’s rights.

“We need to develop a better picture of the evidence to demonstrate how the experience of the justice system differs depending on gender and promote a consistent understanding of the impact of this on women.  This will help us deliver better outcomes for women and reflect expectations of what a modern justice system should look like.”

The membership of the panel comprises:

Ash Regan – Minister for Community Safety (Chair)

Ruth Charteris QC – Solicitor General

Jacqueline Clinton – Scottish Prisons Service

Ch Supt Linda Jones – Police Scotland

Rose McConnachie – Head of learning, development and innovation at Community Justice Scotland

Jen Ang – Director of Development and Policy Scottish Women’s Right Centre/Just Right

Harriet Wistrich – Director, Centre for Women’s Justice

Professor Vanessa Munro – University of Warwick, School of Law

Mariam Ahmed – Co-Chief Executive Officer for Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre

No silver bullet to clear courts backlog, Committee warns

MSPs on Holyrood’s Justice Committee have called for a ‘basket of measures’ to help clear the backlog in Scotland’s courts exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging that some of these may be unpalatable, but necessary.

Members of the Committee have been looking at the impact of Covid-19 on the justice system, with delays caused by the halting of most criminal court business during the height of the pandemic one of the most concerning issues.

The Committee heard that while delays to criminal cases was a problem before the pandemic, just to get back to that level of backlog would take eight to 10 years if nothing is done to increase or speed up court business.

While the Scottish Government and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service have taken forward some proposals, such as setting up ‘remote jury centres’ in cinemas to allow juries to socially distance while participating in trials, the Committee is calling for:

– The Scottish Government to urgently convene a round-table discussion with representatives of affected groups to discuss and agree a way forward for both criminal and civil systems;

– For these discussions to include proposals for more remote jury centres; remote jury empanelling; and more digital technology – for example recording evidence from specialist witnesses;

– For consideration to be given in these discussions to sentence discounts for early pleas; and, in the short-term, extended court sitting hours;

– The Cabinet Secretary for Justice to ensure that sufficient funding is in place to resource and staff any changes without adverse or unforeseen consequences.

This would follow on from a previous roundtable held in April 2020 which agreed interim measures for court business.

At that meeting, some options previously considered, such as trials without juries, were discounted by those present. This is a conclusion the Committee agreed is beyond the pale, as it would be too fundamental a change to make to Scotland’s justice system.

Speaking as the report was launched, Justice Committee Convener, Adam Tomkins MSP, said: “The scale of the challenge faced by our courts is not to be underestimated.

“Current delays are not acceptable for the victims, witnesses or the accused of crimes.

“While that point may not be controversial, we need to ensure changes to improve the situation, whether long or short-term, have the widest possible backing.

“To that end, we want the Scottish Government to convene a meeting of all interested parties to agree a way forward. Time is of the essence.

“By following the collaborative approach taken in the early days of the pandemic, and by being open and transparent with thinking, we can have a grown-up conversation about the pros and cons of the options available.

“The Committee hopes that this would help those responsible for the day-to-day operation of the courts and those responsible for the system to coalesce around a common way forward and agree upon necessary actions.

“Although the problems are at their worst in the criminal courts, there is still a mismatch in our civil courts, which are largely functioning, and other services linked to them, such as family contact centres, which are at best partially open.”