Meeting of the Parliament 08 December 2015
I am delighted to open the stage 3 debate on the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill. As members are aware, the bill has had a unique passage through Parliament since it was introduced in June 2013. It was quite rightly subject to thorough scrutiny by the Justice Committee at stage 1. The committee undertook detailed and challenging evidence sessions and it is clear that its hard work has greatly helped to shape the content of the bill that is before us today. I extend my thanks to the clerks and all members of the committee, past and present, for their thoughtful examination of these important reforms. In addition, I thank the clerks and members of the Finance Committee and the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee for their knowledge and expertise in examining the relevant effects and provisions of the bill for those interests. I also pass on my thanks to my predecessor, Kenny MacAskill, whose passion and belief in bringing forward these significant reforms is to be commended.
The current content of the bill also owes a great deal to the work of four independent review groups. First, I thank Lord Carloway for his review of criminal law and practice. Many of the provisions in the bill have been developed from his recommendations. In particular, there are the reforms to modernise arrest and custody procedures.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the one important recommendation that we are no longer taking forward in the bill: the corroboration reforms. As I previously advised the Parliament, given the substantial and important nature of Lord Bonomy’s recommendations, the Scottish Government accepted that it was not appropriate for the reform to continue at this time. That was one of the key areas in which the Justice Committee significantly influenced the proposed legislation.
Although I realise that the Government has been criticised over how it handled the reform, I believe that our actions show that we listened to the committee and the evidence of the stakeholders at stage 1. That led to the decision to take forward Lord Bonomy’s post-corroboration additional safeguards review and, ultimately, to the postponing of the bill until that review reported.