Hansard

Amendment 102 rectifies an omission in section 119(11) of the 1995 act. At present, when the High Court grants authority to bring a new prosecution under section 118(1)(c) of the 1995 act in disposing of an appeal, and the accused is remanded in custody pending that retrial, the custody time limit is applied to the retrial process in respect of sheriff and jury cases. That time limit starts to run from the date on which authority is given for the fresh prosecution by the High Court.Section 119(11) as drafted does not impose that custody time limit in respect of a retrial in the High Court. Although the Crown, as a matter of practice, observes the time limits in such cases, it is right that they should be set out clearly in the law. Amendment 102 corrects that omission and ensures that, from the date on which the High Court grants authority to bring a new prosecution, where the accused is remanded in custody pending that retrial they will have the protection of the custody time limits set down in section 65 of the 1995 act in both sheriff court and High Court solemn proceedings.Amendment 105 is technical in nature. It amends section 283 of the 1995 act, which makes provision for the certification of evidence obtained using video recordings. Currently, section 283(1)(c) of the 1995 act refers only to visual images, and to those images being recorded on a video tape. Amendment 105 will ensure that that section includes the recording of sounds as well as visual images and will allow them to be recorded on a device, not solely on a video tape. That change will ensure that the provisions keep pace with new methods of recording video evidence and that potentially important evidence is not disregarded simply because it was not recorded on video tape.Amendment 161 adds to the schedule and thereby amends sections 211, 222 and 223 of the 1995 act. Those amendments make further provision in relation to the collection and enforcement of fines, and are designed to make the process more administrative where possible, in keeping with our policy of ensuring that the police and courts can concentrate on their priority roles.Amendment 161 adds three new sub-paragraphs to paragraph 12 of the schedule. The first of them amends section 211(6) of the 1995 act, which makes provision in relation to accounting for fines. Provisions for High Court and sheriff court fines are combined to ensure a consistent approach. In practice, all High Court fines are collected by the sheriff court. The list of persons to whom fines may be paid is widened. That provides flexibility with regard to the office holder who should be responsible for the collection of fines and will allow, for example, accounting functions to be carried out centrally rather than by individual clerks of court, which will free up court staff at the front line. Section 211(5) is repealed because it will be unnecessary—the amended section 211(6) makes consistent provision in relation to all court-imposed fines.The second of the three new sub-paragraphs amends section 222 of the 1995 act, which sets out the procedure for the transfer of fines from one court to another, both within Scotland and between Scotland and the rest of the UK. It provides that a transfer of fine order may be made at the instance of the clerk of court rather than the court, which will free up judicial time to be used for other priorities. Transfers are purely administrative: there is no question of the amount of fine being changed or the fine being written off; it is just being moved to the area in which enforcement would be most appropriate.The second of the three new sub-paragraphs also inserts a new subsection, (1A), into section 222 of the 1995 act, which will enable the clerk of court to transfer all outstanding fines against an offender within a sheriffdom to a single court so that, when the offender appears in court in respect of outstanding fines, all outstanding fines can be considered at the one hearing. Taken together, the provisions will allow the clerk of court to transfer all outstanding fines to a single court, in order that they can be considered together and appropriate action taken against the defaulter. That makes a lot more sense than having four or five separate court hearings for four or five outstanding fines, as may currently happen. Consequential amendments are also made to replace references to the sheriff court with references to the sheriff clerk.The third of the three new sub-paragraphs amends section 223 of the 1995 act, in relation to the procedure to be followed by clerks of court in transferring fines. The changes are consequential on the amendments to section 222 and substitute references to the court with references to the clerk of court. New paragraph (c) as inserted by the third head of amendment 161 provides that, when a transfer of fine order is made, the clerk of the receiving court will be required to remit or account for the fine to the court in which it was originally imposed only if that court is outwith Scotland. At present, the 1995 act requires that to be done in respect of fines transferred within Scotland, but that will not be necessary in future as the Scottish Court Service records all fines on a national computer system, avoiding the need for the administrative process whereby fines are sent from one court to another in order for accounts to be settled.Amendment 163 will prevent the repeal of section 131(6) of the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004, the repeal of which is provided for in paragraph 22 of the bill schedule. Section 131(6) of the 2004 act provides that a fixed penalty for antisocial behaviour may be enforced as if it were a fine imposed in the district court if the offender does not pay it within the time allowed or request that the matter be taken to court. Repeal of that provision had been proposed on the basis that district courts will be phased out under the bill and replaced by justice of the peace courts. On further consideration, however, the view has been taken that section 131(6) should remain in the 2004 act, but suitably adjusted to reflect the new court structure.Section 131(6) of the 2004 act makes it clear that the provisions on fines enforcement in the 1995 act can be applied following default. In particular, a fines enforcement officer can exercise enforcement powers in relation to those penalties where default occurs and an enforcement order is granted.Amendment 162 adds a reference to section 131(6) of the 2004 act in paragraph 22 of the schedule, allowing the reference to the district court in section 131(6) to be substituted with a reference to the justice of the peace court, to reflect the transition from district courts to justice of the peace courts as part of the court unification process. That is consequential on amendment 163.I move amendment 102.