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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 28 November 2024
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Displaying 1012 contributions

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Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

What is the right point in time?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

I am sorry—yes. She has had many jobs.

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

Is there a particular problem with police officers not attending?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

However, there is no legal reason why someone cannot be told of a criminal allegation against them. Indeed, I asked the Lord Advocate about that last week when she gave evidence, because we had a specific case in front of us. I cannot remember the timescale involved, but the officer was not aware of the allegations for a considerable period of time. It was suggested that there might have been a legal reason for that, but, when I checked with the Lord Advocate last week, she said that there were no such legal reasons.

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

I think that it was the week before. We heard about a case that took quite a period of time, and, last week, I asked the Lord Advocate whether there was any specific legal reason for an officer not being told. The officer that we heard from was on restricted duties while they were waiting.

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

Good morning. The bill does not say whether the duty of candour will apply to police officers who are off duty. Will you give a view as to why you think that the bill should cover that?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

You just want clarity on that. You are not particularly arguing for off-duty officers to be included.

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

Thank you for that.

My next question relates to whistleblowing. We have only scratched the surface of some of this stuff, to be honest, but I have not encountered any cases of whistleblowing in Police Scotland. We have had cases elsewhere. Is there a need for a definition of whistleblowing, given that it could mean a lot of different things? Some people might have seen something that they want to report, but are there any grey areas? To me, whistleblowing tends to involve a bigger systemic failure that it is in the public interest for someone to report. Can you comment on that?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

Katharina Kasper, do you want to add anything?

Criminal Justice Committee [Draft]

Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1

Meeting date: 22 May 2024

Pauline McNeill

Good afternoon. I want to clarify something in your answer to Russell Findlay’s question about complaints about excessive force and handcuffs. Are there two separate heads of complaint for that—assault and excessive force?