Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to welcome the passing of this important bill. I, too, congratulate the Justice 2 Committee—in particular the convener—on its hard work and on its rigorous and diligent approach to such an important piece of legislation. That work gives the lie to the idea that we sit here and do as we are told, because it shows that we are actively involved in the process of improving and changing legislation.

The bill is important. We all understand the importance of the people of this country having faith in the criminal justice system. There are serious consequences for us all if that faith is broken down. We all have stories from victims of crime of their experience of the crime and of the courts system, which seems—perversely—to compound the distress that people have experienced. The bill's commitment to improving the rights of victims is significant as it will make a real difference not only to victims' experience of the system but, I hope, to the attitudes of those who are charged with running that system.

As others have highlighted, there is frustration that the bill has been characterised as being about smacking, or sending 16 and 17-year-olds to the children's hearings system or sectarianism. I understand that those who report on our work must sometimes use shorthand but, given that we all abhor spin, it would be good if there were a little more depth to the scrutiny and analysis of substantial pieces of work such as this.

The Parliament has wrestled with significant issues, but I believe that our focus has been on what will work. The concerns about the smacking provisions were not because people want children to be beaten. The concerns about the sectarianism provisions were not because people are in favour of sectarianism. We must recognise when we make legislation that we need the space to be able to ask whether or not something works, instead of being concerned about how our position might be characterised elsewhere.

I congratulate the Executive on its willingness to listen and to change. It has certainly listened to Labour back benchers on the issue of 16 and 17-year-olds. I am pleased that the Executive has listened so hard, especially to those who wanted more action on anti-social behaviour. It is profoundly depressing that, when the Parliament's committees and back benchers do their job, people settle for lazy language about U-turns and humiliating defeats. The bill has been strengthened rather than weakened by the Executive's willingness to listen. The Executive's work has been strengthened rather than weakened by its willingness to respond to the points that were raised.

I congratulate the Executive and all those involved in the nitty-gritty work on the bill. I look forward to the bill making a real difference in people's lives.