Meeting of the Parliament 22 November 2023
The Scottish Government enacted a range of temporary powers in April 2020, at the start of the pandemic. Some of those powers were indeed temporary; however, last year, the Government extended the use of others, including the expansion of fiscal fines. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service issues fiscal fines as an alternative to prosecution. Prior to the pandemic, the maximum was £300, but the emergency Covid law increased that to £500.
Today, the Government is asking members to maintain the £500 limit until this time next year. The Government submitted a policy note to the Criminal Justice Committee, which stated that increasing the maximum fines allowed prosecutors to use them in
“a wider range of cases”.
Those five words—“a wider range of cases”—are the key issue.
I asked the justice secretary exactly what new crimes are being dealt with by way of fiscal fines. She either would not or could not answer. She tried to deflect that there was ideological opposition to fiscal fines, which is not true. I am sure that crime victims have no ideological opposition; I am sure that they would expect to be told when fiscal fines are being issued. I am also sure that the public expect to know when such fines are issued for serious crimes, including acts of violence. People want justice to be done efficiently and effectively, but they also want transparency.
To recap, in 2020, the Government passed an emergency law to widen the use of fiscal fines. It did not tell the public what new crimes they would be used for. The Government relied on the support of all parties, including mine. However, if this SSI is agreed to by members today, this significant and supposedly temporary measure will be in place for almost five years.