The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.
All Official Reports of meetings in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
All Official Reports of public meetings of committees.
Displaying 1088 contributions
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
The bill has a lot of significant changes.
12:15Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
At the moment, the bill does not have the full details on juryless trials. It will give the powers to ministers to bring in that type of trial with secondary legislation. Should we have more details in the bill, or is it fine to bring that in with secondary legislation?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
Fulton MacGregor covered a lot of what I was going to ask. Are there any circumstances in which you might support a pilot? We have heard that some of the complainers or survivors are not in favour of juryless trials, but some will be in favour of them. Following on from what John Swinney said, if you had a complainer and an accused who were both in favour of taking part in the pilot—because, as you said earlier, we are talking about real lives, real situations and real convictions—would you be supportive of that?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
Would your preference be for part 6 to be taken out of the bill altogether?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
Yes.
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
I have one last question. Could juryless rape trials lead to unintended consequences, such as delays in the process and increases in appeals?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 6 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
Thank you.
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
Right, okay. That brings me to my second question. The report highlighted the importance of SPS and its partners working together, with support from the Scottish Government, to consider all options available to ensure the safe and effective delivery of prisoner escorting services. The SPS seems to have had a change in service since the initial contract was brought in, so is it looking at the way that it operates, as well, to see how it can assist GEOAmey?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
Is the SPS continuing that engagement? The report said that the majority of hospital appointments were at half past nine and that the SPS had engaged with the NHS. However, that is obviously not helping GEOAmey, because we are still sitting with the majority of appointments at half past nine. Is there constant engagement there?
Public Audit Committee
Meeting date: 1 February 2024
Sharon Dowey
The report also states that the contractual arrangements for GEOAmey differ between Scotland, and England and Wales. Are you aware of any issues or concerns with the service that GEOAmey provides in England and Wales? Are there the same problems there, or is it a different contract with different issues?