Catch up with the latest news.
Crime fighters disrupt organised crime
The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) has disrupted the activities of more serious organised crime groups than ever before as a result of a range of new tactics used in the last year.The SCDEA disrupted serious organised crime groups on 109 occasions, twice as many as last year… Read more ...Access to lawyers before police questioning essential
Anyone suspected or accused of a criminal offence in the EU should have the right to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible, and before police questioning starts, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee has said in amendments to a draft directive. The new rules should apply as soon… Read more ...Dangerous Driving-Will I lose my licence?
If a motorist is charged with dangerous driving under section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and subsequently prosecuted and found guilty of that offence, disqualification from driving is obligatory. However, if an individual does not receive a warning that he or she could be prosecuted for… Read more ...Keeping your driving licence - establishing 'exceptional hardship'
Where a driver is on the brink of receiving penalty points that would take the total points on the licence to 12 or above, and where those points are accumulated within a three year period, the driver faces disqualification unless he/she can demonstrate that this would result in exceptional… Read more ...Major reforms to criminal justice system
The Scottish Government has published a consultation on plans to overhaul Scotland's system for the investigation and prosecution of crime. Proposals include the removal of the requirement for corroboration and reform of arrest and detention. The proposed reforms follow a recent UK Supreme Court ruling and a review of the… Read more ...Police must change photograph policy following court ruling
The Equality and Human Rights Commission intervened in a test case in England in which the High Court has ruled that the police cannot keep photographs of people without criminal records or those not found guilty.The judges agreed with the Commission’s submission that unless someone has been charged with, or… Read more ...Recorded crime in Scotland
Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2011-12. The publication presents statistics on crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the eight Scottish police forces in 2011-12.The figures show that the total number of crimes recorded by the police decreased by 3% between 2010-11 and 2011-12. In… Read more ...A ‘more open and just’ justice system
A legal loophole whereby life prisoners could become eligible for parole earlier than those serving sentences of a fixed length will be closed after the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of a new Bill designed to improve the justice system.The Criminal Cases (Punishment and Review) (Scotland) Bill will resolve a… Read more ...EU strategy against human trafficking
The European Commission has adopted the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings (2012-2016), a set of concrete and practical measures to be implemented over the next five years. These include the establishment of national law enforcement units specialised in human trafficking and the creation of joint… Read more ...