Catch up with the latest news.
Prosecutors report success in tackling football related disorder
The Lord Advocate has reported on the success of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012. The Act came into force on 1st March 2012 and created a new criminal offence of “offensive behaviour at regulated football matches,” which criminalises offensive or threatening behaviour in relation… Read more ...Supreme Court reaffirms ancient right to liberty
The Supreme Court has reaffirmed, in a unanimous decision, the importance of the ancient common law writ of habeas corpus, human rights organisation JUSTICE has announced. The English case involved Mr Rahmatullah, who was captured by UK forces in Iraq and handed over to US forces in 2004, in accordance… Read more ...Domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland
Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2010-11 and 2011-12. The publication presents key statistics on the number of incidents of domestic abuse recorded by police forces in Scotland. The main findings include: There were 59,847 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by the… Read more ...Report into deaths of young people in custody
A new evidence based report examining the experiences and treatment of children and young people who died in prison custody in England and Wales has been published by INQUEST and the Prison Reform Trust. The report highlights that over the past ten years, 200 children and young people aged 24… Read more ...Scottish Government announces new human trafficking measures
The Scottish Government has announced that it is to introduce a statutory human trafficking criminal aggravation. This will mean that existing criminal offences will be able to be ‘aggravated’ in future if it can be proved that the underlying offence was committed in connection with human trafficking. The move is… Read more ...Human trafficking gangs targeted by UK government
Gangs that lure victims to the UK and then exploit them for sex, labour and domestic slavery are being targeted following action by the government. A report published by the inter-departmental ministerial group (IDMG) on human trafficking shows that more work than ever before is being carried out both in… Read more ...Home Secretary blocks extradition to US
The Home Secretary has announced that Gary McKinnon will not face extradition to the US. He has been charged with hacking into US Pentagon and NASA computer systems between 1999 and 2002. He has Asperger’s syndrome and human rights organisation Liberty and his lawyers have long argued that – as… Read more ...Rollout of witness text reminder programme
A new scheme to text witnesses to remind them to attend court has been rolled out across Scotland by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, following a successful pilot of the scheme at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The programme aims to improve communication with witnesses, and avoid adjournments of criminal… Read more ...Criminal justice opt-out – call for consultation
The Law Societies of Scotland, England and Wales and of Northern Ireland have issued a call for a full and open consultation on whether the UK should opt-out of over 130 EU criminal justice measures, including the European Arrest Warrant. This follows a statement earlier in the month by the Prime Minister… Read more ...