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Yes: there is existing legislation that we would consider to be adequate.

Thank you, convener. I apologise in advance for any repetition. The draft International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 is an order in council made by His Majesty under powers in the International Organisations Act 1968. The nature of the reserved-devolved divide means that, where privileges and immunities relate to devolved matters in Scotland, the function of advising His Majesty on the relevant order is devolved.

The purpose of the instrument is to give effect to the obligations relating to immunities and privileges for those matters that are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament for two international organisations. The first is the European Space Agency. The agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union’s space agency concerning the agency’s sites and facilities in the UK was signed in 2013. It provides for the establishment and operation of an agency centre at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. The purpose of the order is to amend the International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Order 2009 to give full effect to the obligations relating to immunities and privileges under the agreement. The head of the Harwell campus and seven high-ranking officials who had previously not been protected by privileges and immunities are now covered, to the extent that is provided for under the agreement.

The second organisation that the order relates to is the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. The order retains schedule 15 of the 2009 order to reflect the provisions that are contained within the protocol for the privileges and immunities of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere.

The privileges and immunities for the two organisations that I have mentioned are granted primarily on the basis of strict functional need. Importantly, the order contains an exemption to immunity in respect of road traffic accidents. The privileges and immunities are no greater than the extent of what is required to enable the two organisations and specified individuals who are connected with the organisations to function effectively.

Scotland’s space industry and the work of Space Scotland is supported by a number of public sector bodies and agencies, including the European Space Agency. As the committee will be aware, the space industry makes an important contribution to Scotland’s future economic growth. It contributes in excess of £4 billion to the Scottish economy. The European Space Agency is an important partner, providing support for research and significant funding. Orbex and Skyrora, companies that are based in Scotland, successfully secured a total of £8.5 million from the agency to develop world-leading small satellite technologies.

The order will ensure that we meet our international obligations, and it will help to support the future development of Scotland’s space industry. A parallel order has been taken forward by the UK Government and is in force for the rest of the UK and for non-devolved Scots law. As a good global citizen, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government to bring the order to the Parliament for consideration. I commend it to the committee.

Thank you, convener, and good morning.

The draft International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 is an order in council made by His Majesty under powers in the International Organisations Act 1968. The nature of the reserved-devolved divide means that, where privileges and immunities relate to devolved matters in Scotland, the function of advising His Majesty in relation to the order is devolved. The purpose of the instrument is to give effect to the obligations relating to immunities and privileges for those matters that are within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament for two international organisations: the European Space Agency and—[Interruption.]

Forgive me, convener. Is there a problem?

Just one moment.

Right. My apologies, convener.

I appreciate Mr Findlay’s irritation about the matter. The processes for the preparation of the orders are layered on layers of historical agreements and historical orders. The two errors that you have mentioned are either being addressed or they will be. My understanding is that the error related to this order is rooted in the original UK orders. Nonetheless, the errors will be addressed.

It is particularly complex that the order relates to the transfer of agreements over a period of a number of years into multiple orders that flow from the UK Government. However, I said that by way of context—I certainly ain’t pointing the finger at anyone in that regard.

Yes.

Of course: I am more than happy to do so, Mr Findlay. That matter was considered very carefully by the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Ms Todd. You will appreciate the wide-ranging nature of the UK Government’s Criminal Justice Bill. While many matters in the bill are considered by me, other specific matters covered by the bill are considered by other colleagues.

The matter was given very serious consideration by health colleagues. They will keep the particular issue under review, but they had considerable engagement on the matter with stakeholders, particularly those involved in implementing suicide prevention strategies. There were concerns about unintended consequences, such as potentially criminalising people who were merely trying to give support to people in distress. It is a complex and sensitive area, but I am advised that health ministers will keep the matter under review. They have concerns right now, but they will continue to consider the matter and see how issues evolve.

I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss the two legislative consent memoranda that have been lodged so far to give effect in Scotland to parts of the UK Government’s Criminal Justice Bill, which is a large and complex bill that covers numerous different policy areas.

Although we support the overall purpose of the bill to keep communities safe, we have not accepted every measure offered. In some cases, we already have our own legislation in place; in other cases, we simply do not see the need to legislate in our very different legislative and delivery landscape. However, where we could see benefit to Scotland, we have lodged an LCM and a supplementary LCM, and we have plans to lodge a supplementary LCM in the next few days and a further supplementary LCM when the UK Government tables additional amendments at the House of Lords report stage.

The Scottish Government proposes legislative consent to clauses 1 to 4, 16 and 28 of the bill, in so far as it makes provision within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

The first LCM that we have lodged relates to the provisions covering the criminal liability of bodies corporate and the provisions around access to driver licence records. The identification doctrine is a long-standing element of criminal law that allows for corporate liability in situations where a person representing the directing mind and will of an organisation has committed an offence.

Last year, the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament supported the codification of the doctrine for economic crimes under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 extending to Scotland. The limitation to economic crimes in the 2023 act related to the scope of the relevant legislation.

Clause 16 of the Criminal Justice Bill, as amended, does not make any changes to the substance of the codification. Rather, it extends it to all crimes rather than economic crimes only. Clause 27 clarifies which organisations—including Police Scotland—can access the driver data, and it enables the making of regulations to provide access to driver information held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for all policing or law enforcement purposes.

The first supplementary LCM covers the provisions in clauses 1 to 4 of the bill relating to articles used in organised crime and electronic devices for use in vehicle theft. Law enforcement agencies throughout the UK have raised concerns that there are limited legal options to address the rapidly evolving tools and technology exploited by serious criminals. They report that they are increasingly encountering individuals in possession of articles where there is a strong suspicion that they are being used for the purposes of serious crime.

The measures in the UK Government bill therefore seek to prohibit the possession of certain specific articles used in serious crime through the introduction of new criminal offences. Currently, the list of articles comprises vehicle concealments, templates for the three-dimensional—3D—printing of firearms and pill presses. I am particularly pleased to see the measure to control access to pill presses. The Scottish Government and many key stakeholders, including Police Scotland, have been calling for such measures for some time.

The Scottish Government recognises that, for the measures in the relevant clauses to be successful, they should be introduced consistently across the United Kingdom. Therefore, we support their introduction. The proposed list of articles will be amendable via secondary legislation to ensure that it keeps pace with the evolving threat. The bill therefore contains a statutory duty for the secretary of state to consult Scottish ministers before amending the list of articles, regardless of the reserved or devolved status of the article in question.

While I am here, let me tell you about the further supplementary LCM that will come forward very shortly. We had hoped that the relevant amendment would have been tabled in the House of Commons in sufficient time for us to lodge a second supplementary LCM in advance of this committee meeting. The amendment was finally tabled on 9 May, and we hope that a further supplementary LCM will be lodged in the next week. That further LCM is simply a minor technical amendment to add the new organised crime offences in the supplementary LCM mentioned above to the schedule for the proceeds of organised crime as being indicative of a criminal lifestyle. I am sure that the committee would wish to support that approach.

I am happy to take any questions.

Yes. We interrogate the figures and information that are provided to us.