Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 25 November 2020
I thank Dame Elish Angiolini, her team and everyone who contributed to what is a significant piece of work that has rightly received a warm welcome, including from the Scottish Green Party. It is important that the report is properly examined and actioned, and that the proposals that consultation should take place before any legislation is put in place are dealt with appropriately.
I am convener of the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing. I am not speaking in that capacity, but I want members to know that we are taking evidence from Dame Elish on 7 December; I look forward to that.
The terms of reference that Dame Elish worked to included
“fairness to all those who make or are the subject of a complaint”
and other terms including accountability, transparency, proportionality, effectiveness and efficiency. Those terms have been delivered on. There is also mention of a “learning culture” and relatively new systems. There have been tensions in relationships as well as what we might call turf wars, but I think that we are getting there with that.
There have been challenges with the procedures in relation to chief officers. That issue is being addressed by the Scottish Police Authority and PIRC. We need to draw a distinction between service complaints and complaints about individuals, so I look forward to the outcome of that.
It is not new for the code of ethics to be discussed in police circles. It is fair to say that it means different things to different people, but it is important to note that it is a baseline, so I look forward to discussions on that.
Perhaps one of the amendments that I am most proud of securing in Parliament was when the legislation for Police Scotland was going through. I had an amendment accepted that meant that officers joining Police Scotland should swear an oath to uphold the human rights of citizens. From recent events, we know that Police Scotland has high regard for human rights. The Covid legislation has been overseen by an independent advisory group, led by John Scott QC, and it was Mr Scott who led the inquiry into stop and search powers, which as I recall concluded by saying that the police should be the front-line defenders of citizens’ human rights. I am clear that we must take a rights-based approach to the report, and I welcome the explicit use of that term in the Government’s amendment.
Police officers have human rights, too, and I think that there is much common ground across the parties on that. I hope that all members will support the Labour amendment, as the Green Party does. I welcome what the cabinet secretary said about the chief constable’s announcement responding specifically to that element that is covered by the Labour amendment.
The inclusion of victim involvement is interesting. From my past career, I know that people can feel that their interests are not represented at a fatal accident inquiry, in the same way as victims of sexual crime do not always feel that their interests are being represented in a court of law. There is an interesting discussion to be had about how we address that through
“meaningful involvement and constructive engagement”,
to use Dame Elish’s term.
I also want to reflect on the idea of blameless error. The police have a lot of interactions and, as Dame Elish said, we need to show maturity and wisdom in how we respond. We need to be cautious about changes to informal resolution.
Wherever the deliberations take us, I hope that we will have regard to one phrase that could apply anywhere. Dame Elish said that
“the systems need to demonstrate a greater degree of humanity”.
If we get that approach right, everyone’s interests will be met.
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