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Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 19 March 2025
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Displaying 1088 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 6 February 2024

Sharon Dowey

The bill has a lot of significant changes.

12:15  

Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

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

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

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

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

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

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 6 February 2024

Sharon Dowey

Yes.

Criminal Justice Committee

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

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

Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 6 February 2024

Sharon Dowey

Thank you.

Public Audit Committee

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

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

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

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

Section 22 Report: “The 2022/23 audit of the Scottish Prison Service”

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?