Consultation on regulations to modify Part 1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 to deal with arrests which do not relate to criminal offences and arrests under warrant

1. Foreword by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice

Part 1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 ^[1] will reform and modernise the system for arrest and custody procedures in Scotland. It will ensure that Scotland is at the forefront of human rights practice in the questioning, arrest and detention of suspects.

The Act contains procedures and protections which will apply to all arrests. While the majority of arrests are of people suspected of a criminal offence, there are arrests for other reasons - for example an arrest for a breach of a protective court order or a witness arrested under warrant to ensure they attend court. For these arrests, not all the procedures and protections set out in the Act are appropriate.

For this reason, it was set out during the passage of the Bill that some limited modification to the procedures was needed. It is my intention to set out these modifications in regulations under section 60 of the Act.

This public consultation is to allow adequate consideration to be given prior to the regulations being laid before Parliament. I look forward to hearing your views.

Michael Matheson
Cabinet Secretary for Justice