Lord Carloway

The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill seeks to reduce the number of prisoners on remand but risks creating bad law, Scottish Labour has warned.

The bill stipulates that bail can only be refused when there is a good reason to do so and introduces into Scots law a new concept of “public safety”.

Scottish Labour has warned the new test is not defined in the bill and so is likely to lead to uncertainty and appeals, leaving it unclear whether bail numbers will increase or decrease.

The proposed bill has faced opposition from many in the legal profession, including the Lord President, Lord Carloway, who said the bill would introduce a “an unnecessary, cumbersome and artificial process” in a letter to Holyrood’s Justice Committee last year.

He wrote: “The prescriptive nature of what is proposed is likely to make submissions to the local sheriffs lengthier, increase the time taken to determine the issue of bail result in
some accused persons being detained unnecessarily while inquiries are carried out, produce more errors, increase the opportunities for appeals and add to the heavy burden on the sheriffs and the staff who are tasked with the management of what can be extremely busy custody courts.”

Scottish Labour spokesperson for community safety Katy Clark said: “Scottish Labour strongly supports attempts to reduce the numbers of prisoners on remand, but this ill thought through legislation could have dangerous consequences.

“By changing the established tests is means that those who could be a risk to the public, such as sex offenders, may be released too quickly.

“The legislation needs to be far more explicit in is proposals, including defining what a ‘public safety’ clause actually entails.

“Our criminal justice system is in crisis – we have overcrowded prisons, record numbers on inmates in who have neither been tried or sentenced and further real terms cuts announced.

“The last thing Scotland needs is bad law that worsens this crisis. The SNP government must set out clearly what it is trying to achieve.”