Letters Reforming criminal justice
Letter of the week Andrew R Wilson Editor, SCOLAG Legal Journal
Before and after the judgement of the Supreme Court in Cadder we warned that introducing the right to legal advice for all detainees could lead to other elements of criminal procedure by which the citizen is protected being called into question and eroded. Alas, so it has proved.
Te time limit for detention has subsequently been quadrupled, although Lord Carloway has recommended that it be readjusted to 12 hours. Tat would be a
welcome move, albeit still double the original limit prior to the recent ‘emergency’ reform. But that in no way compensates for the shift of power to the state if the rule on corroboration is lost. Advocating ending the
requirement for corroboration is not necessarily bad, but it is both premature and mistaken if the proposal is not placed squarely in the proper context of the whole of Scots criminal procedure. Not least, it is not and cannot be considered as separate from the Scots criminal jury. Te size of the jury, number of verdicts available to it and the means by which a verdict is arrived at in Scotland are all elements in the balance of a fair trial.
A time for courage
Energy Stuart Haszeldine FRSE Professor of CCS, Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage Centre, University of Edinburgh
Te news from climate observations
and research gets worse every year. Carbon emissions rise inexorably. It matters not to the world if these emissions come from Scotland, the USA, or China. We in the UK consume manufactured products and high-grade food, and those carbon emissions contribute to global warming and to ocean acidification. Even the climate doubters (USA
Berkley Group) have to concede that the evidence is unarguable. In Scotland we claim credit for inventing the industrial revolution, now we have to work at repaying the credit. A big part of the solution is carbon capture and storage.
Te pace of CCS development in the UK, and the confidence of global business investors, is not helped by
the Treasury declaring that part of the £1bn allocated for CCS may now be used for other projects. Tat inevitably pushes UK CCS projects into the next spending review, beyond 2016. Tat seems a premature conclusion, when DECC has not yet completed its formal process of assessing what is on offer, and when projects can start. Some appear more than ready to go. Why not start now, with projects that are technically ready and have good public support? Peterhead is the only gas fuelled CCS project in Europe and will be vital to de-carbonise the UK’s electricity future. Don Valley in Yorkshire will capture all its CO2 from the start, and use that to test the North Sea offshore of Scotland for
Enhanced Oil Recovery eventually leading to an extra seven billion barrels of production. Tat opens the way for industrial projects at Grangemouth and elsewhere. Without CCS, it is hard to see how the UK targets of the Climate Bill can be met for 2025, and certainly not for 2030. Without industrial-scale validation projects it is hard to see how we get to CCS. Tere is no Plan B on this one either. Climate clean up is not free of charge. Te good news is that CCS will create new jobs, good jobs and long jobs, and should eventually be as cheap as, and complimentary to, the developing renewable energies. Te UK has the money, do we have the courage?
A balance that is disturbed if the weight of evidence is altered. Neither can the rules on evidence be separated from consideration of the protection they afford in relation to the overwhelming majority of criminal trials which take place without a jury but with an agent of the State as sole arbiter
of law and fact. It is quite right that the fairness of the criminal process is held up to scrutiny and assessed. Any reform however must be based on careful consideration of the system as a whole. Lord Carloway’s review therefore must not be taken as offering a definitive route for change, rather an important starting point for debate. After all, the true worth of the rule on corroboration, like that of the jury, could be said to be its ‘process value’: not the measurable result but the process itself. Tat is, not simply the supposed efficacy of outcome but rather the confidence it inspires in our citizens and society as an integral part of a fair criminal justice system.
Perfect opportunity to build
Housing Graeme Brown Director, Shelter Scotland
Following the Chancellor of the
Exchequer’s decision to put new money into capital expenditure projects, the Scottish Government has the perfect opportunity to reverse the 34 per cent cut in the housing budget and stimulate jobs in the construction industry. And, coming just one day after statistics showed a 36 per cent slump in new start socially- rented house building, this extra money should be used by the Scottish Government to plug the gaping funding gap and invest in desperately needed socially-rented housing. Ministers need to ensure that as much of this money as possible finds its way toward shovel- ready projects that can get going immediately - providing more jobs and more homes.
Letters to the Editor with the writer’s contact details, should be emailed to
editor@holyrood.com or faxed to 0131 272 2116. Maximum of 300 words, please.
70
www.holyrood.com 12 December 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76