Coronavirus Recovery and Reform (Scotland) Act 2022 - criminal justice measures: consultation

Introduction

Our Vision for Justice, published in February 2022, and the associated Three Year Delivery Plan , published in November 2023 sets out the Scottish Government's transformative vision to deliver a just, safe resilient country. Delivering the vision requires fundamental change to the operation of our justice services, ensuring that our processes and laws meet the needs of people now and in the future.

We are already making progress delivering our vision. The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023 includes changes to refocus how remand is used and improves support provided to people leaving prison, helping them to resettle in their communities and reduce their risk of reoffending. The underpinning principles of the Act are to reduce crime, reoffending and future victimisation. Alongside this, the National Community Justice Strategy, published earlier this year sets out our four national aims for community justice. Currently before parliament, The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, also contains an ambitious package of reforms to modernise processes and improve the experiences of victims and witnesses, ensuring that victims of crime are treated with compassion and that their voices are heard.

This consultation is therefore a key part of a far-reaching programme of work and takes forward our Programme for Government 2022-23 commitment to modernise justice processes through greater use of digital processes. It also delivers on our priorities for justice as outlined in Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start.

The primary proposals in this consultation are to make permanent those of the temporary justice measures in the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022, which can deliver significant longer term benefits and provide a basis for the future resilience, effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice sector. We are also seeking views on proposals which support the modernisation of our justice processes and procedures. The Scottish Government propose to do this through legislation in this parliamentary term.

The particular provisions from the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022 which are being consulted on are:

• Allowing for the electronic signing and sending of documents in criminal cases.
• Enabling virtual attendance at a criminal court.
• A national jurisdiction for callings from custody, so that custody cases can be heard in any court in Scotland.
• An increase in the maximum level of fiscal fine, to £500, along with adjustments to the scale of fines.

Additional proposals included as part of this consultation are:

• Legislating to maximise the use of remote and digital ways of working including the use of digital images rather than production of physical evidence in court.
• Alternative ways to prove copy documents to provide more flexibility in the law, taking account of digital innovations such as Digital Evidence Sharing Capability.