Hansard

The Presiding Officer (Alex Fergusson): NPA

The next item of business is a debate on motion S3M-1490, in the name of Kenny MacAskill, on the Scottish Law Commission's report on rape and sexual offences.

The Lord Advocate (Elish Angiolini):

The Parliament will be aware that the First Minister announced last year that the Scottish Government will bring forward legislation in the light of the Scot...

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): Lab

Will the Lord Advocate take an intervention on that point?

The Lord Advocate:

I have a great deal to say. I will take the member's point later.The Scottish Law Commission's proposals seek to challenge existing norms by creating a great...

Elaine Smith: Lab

I apologise—I have to attend a meeting and so I cannot contribute to the debate.Does the Lord Advocate agree that the rape of women by men is an act of viole...

The Lord Advocate:

The answer to the first question is clear. Sexual offending tends to be the exploitation of power. It is about the abuse of power in relation to the victims,...

The Presiding Officer: NPA

I will consider that while you continue, if I may.

The Lord Advocate:

On Ms Smith's point about those who have been trafficked, in circumstances where someone has been abducted and there is clear evidence that there is an absen...

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): Ind

Further to that point—

The Lord Advocate:

I will take Ms MacDonald's point later.The commission's proposal is important and the Parliament must consider it with great care.Equally important is the co...

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): Lab

Labour welcomes the long-awaited report from the Scottish Law Commission on the reform of rape and sexual offences law. The report is good and we thank the c...

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): Con

I welcome the debate, which is likely to continue for some months and, indeed, years, because we must get this particular legislation right. I also welcome t...

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): LD

I welcome the Scottish Law Commission's final report on rape and other sexual offences and the consultation on its findings. The proposed legislation and the...

Shirley-Anne Somerville (Lothians) (SNP): SNP

I welcome the final report from the Scottish Law Commission and the commitment from the Scottish Government to bring about much-needed reform of the law on r...

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): Lab

I am pleased to take part in this debate on the Scottish Law Commission's report on rape and sexual offences. The report and the first-ever systematic review...

Gil Paterson (West of Scotland) (SNP): SNP

First, I declare an interest as a board member of Central Scotland Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre. I pay tribute to the Parliament's continuing work on ...

Bill Aitken: Con

I am well aware of the member's close interest in such matters, but if he checked the figures he would learn that the conviction rate for the number of cases...

Gil Paterson: SNP

Although I bow to the figure supplied by Bill Aitken, it does not alter what I will say. However, I will check the figures again.No right-thinking person, wh...

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): Ind

I join the debate because I want clarification on only one point that was reported in the newspapers during the week. The Lord Advocate will be pleased to kn...

Gil Paterson: SNP

Margo MacDonald is perhaps suggesting that it would be difficult to say that men who pay for sex unknowingly rape a person. However, I hope that the member a...

Margo MacDonald: Ind

I thank the member for that information, of which I am aware—I abhor that situation as much as the member does. However, the same treatment can be meted out ...

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): Lab

I support Pauline McNeill's amendment and all that she said. I welcome the consultation on the draft bill, which is published at the end of the Scottish Law ...

Nigel Don (North East Scotland) (SNP): SNP

Members will forgive me for saying again that as I am speaking late in the debate I will resist the temptation to repeat what others have said and instead tr...

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): LD

This is the third time in as many weeks that I have spoken in Parliament on a complex and emotive issue. I welcome the debate, which presents an opportunity ...

Margo MacDonald: Ind

Has the member considered that the attitudes of juries might determine the matter about which he asks?

Mike Pringle: LD

I do not doubt that that is part of the problem and I will return to that issue. However, I maintain that analysis should be done in that area.Progress has b...

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): Con

Today's debate has been very interesting and informative, and the wider debate, particularly on the law of rape, has also been very well informed. I also wel...

Margo MacDonald: Ind

I will just raise an intriguing point. If the way in which the style of dress can be provocative is not to contribute to being attacked—I agree that that is ...

John Lamont: Con

My point is that society needs to be much more widely aware of the matter. People need to understand that simply wearing a certain piece of clothing does not...

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): Lab

We have heard several powerful and thoughtful speeches on what—as several members have said—is a very complex area of law. When we analyse the Law Commission...