Section 60 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016: consultation analysis

Consultation Overview

5. The consultation was launched on 24 October 2016 and closed on 16 January 2017. The consultation paper was published on Citizen Space, the Scottish Government's online consultation website and also forwarded out to a number of stakeholders.

6. The consultation was based around four main questions which asked respondents to offer comments on:

• the need to modify Part 1 of the Act for breaches of protective interdict and other court orders and whether proposed amendments are appropriate;
• whether protections in the Act should apply to child suspects arrested on non-offending grounds;
• proposed modification to allow a person to be taken directly to a place other than a police station in accordance with other enactments; and
• any other modifications.

7. A total of eight written responses were received. One response was received from an individual who did not want their name to be published. Seven responses were received from organisations:

• The Scottish Council on Deafness
• Police Scotland
• Scottish Women's Aid
• The Finance and Leasing Association
• The Law Society of Scotland
• The Glasgow Bar Association
• East Renfrewshire Health and Social Partnership

8. Delivery of Part 1 of the Act is being taken forward by individual criminal justice bodies with an oversight group meeting regularly and which is constituted of;

• Police Scotland
• Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
• Scottish Legal Aid Board
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

9. The draft regulations were circulated to the members of the group and discussed at a group meeting and the feedback gathered has been taken into account in the consultation analysis below.

10. In addition the regulations have been discussed with other external bodies including the Scottish Prison Service and the Faculty of Advocates who, although they did not submit formal responses to the consultation, indicated that they are content with their content.