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: 17 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
We have heard that trauma-informed measures will be in place—for example, the use of separate entrances, the option to have screens, and there being separate areas for victims, survivors and their families to go to. However, those would be in buildings in the current court estate and not purpose-built courts. Do you have any concerns about that?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 17 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
But will that not run the risk of creating more delays in the court system? Will reducing the number of buildings that can be classed as part of the specialist court not have those sorts of unintended consequences?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
So—
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
Under the new policy, will any male-bodied prisoner who self-identifies as a woman be treated as a transgender prisoner, even if they change gender while they are in prison?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
The new prison rules do not appear to include a definition of gender. Does that mean that for the purposes of prison searches, gender is defined by how a prisoner self-identifies?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
The Ministry of Justice policy says that, regardless of conviction, any trans woman with intact male genitalia is ineligible for allocation to the general population of the female estate. Why did you decide not to follow that part of the policy?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
But some of the women in prison are probably the most vulnerable in society, so are you not discarding their—
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
So they self-identify?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
You said that there are 23 transgender individuals in the prison system just now. How many of them were transgender when they went into the prison system, and how many changed when they were in prison?
Criminal Justice Committee
Meeting date: 11 January 2024
Sharon Dowey
The Ministry of Justice changed its policy last year. Why did you not follow the same policy as the Ministry of Justice?