Legislative Programme 2001-02

3. Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill

Aimed at improving the system of criminal justice in Scotland, this Bill will give legislative backing to new measures for the control and treatment of serious violent and sexual offenders and specifically give powers of arrest for breaches of non-harassment orders.. It will also implement recommendations from the recent report of the expert panel on sex offending and from parts of the Executive Scottish strategy for victims.

There is also a possibility that a new provision on religious hate crime will be included in this Bill, in response to recent events, and most of the "anti-smacking" provisions recently debated in Parliament will be included within the scope of the Bill.

4. Bill to Replace Poindings and Warrant Sales (to be introduced Spring 2002)

This Bill aims to provide a workable and humane form of diligence (procedure for enforcement of debt) to replace poinding and warrant sales, which are to be abolished by the end of 2002. The outcome of current consultation on this "should not be prejudged but it is intended that the new proposals will be much less intrusive than the current system, will create new opportunities to resolve debts without the need for enforcement, and will ensure that those who want to pay their debts and those who simply can’t are protected: while those who can pay, but won’t, are not able to evade their responsibilities". The Bill will therefore almost certainly include provision for "compulsory sale orders" to replace warrant sales.

5. Land Reform (Scotland) Bill (to be introduced Autumn 2001)

This Bill aims to provide a responsible right of access to land and inland water, and will include provisions to enable a community right to buy when land is up for sale and a crofting community right to buy crofting land.

There are likely to be significant changes to the legislation following a consultation period with large numbers of response from both sides of the debate on access. Concerns have been expressed about the introduction of a criminal offence which could exclude people from the countryside, while Lord James Douglas-Hamilton stated in Parliament that is would be "wholly inadvisable to grant a right of access at all times of the night, as that could be used as a lurkers charter if it is pursued to its limits."

6. Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill (Introduced 27 September 2001: Lead Committee will be either Justice 1 or 2; Invitation issued to submit written evidence by 9 November 2001)

   This will give a right to access to almost all information held by public authorities and any body which "appears to the Scottish Ministers to exercise functions of a public nature" or which is providing "under contract made with a Scottish public authority, any service whose provision is a function of that authority" (ie private companies involved in major PFI contracts); it also provides for the post of an Information Commissioner who will have the power to force disclosure of information.

   While there is agreement that the Scottish legislation will be more liberal than the UK legislation this is no cause for complacency, many of the issues raised previously (SCPO Briefing 3/9) remain - such as the potential for confusion between the Westminster and Scottish regimes, the lack of a purpose clause in the Bill, concerns about commercial confidentiality as an excuse for keeping things secret, and the lack of sanctions for non compliance. The different opinions on whether or not to establish costs for requests made under Freedom of Information legislation has also been referred to in the Bill preamble - and deferred. There is a need to clarify the duty of information providers to ensure that people have access to the exact document they need, not a warehouse of documents.