The Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill was officially debated in the Scottish Parliament yesterday. It aims to reform the Scottish justice system through proposing legislature on topics concerning sentencing, criminal law and procedure among others. The Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, which was tasked with reviewing and debating the proposals, announced that they were generally content with the shape and content of the provisions enclosed in the Bill. In some areas, however, they highlighted the fact that they felt it was too detailed or complex, while also rejecting the headline proposal of scrapping jail terms of 6 months or less in favour of community service.
The case for scrapping jail terms of 6 months or less.
With Scotland’s prisons already verging on capacity, currently 8,236 offenders serving a prison sentence, there is a general consensus that the current system is not working as the percentage of those re-offending after 2 years is 75% in comparison to 42% for those given community service.
Indeed there is political agreement that short term prison sentences, in terms of rehabilitation and acting as a deterrent, are not working. Supporters claim that they should be replaced by tough community penalties, incorporating treatment and rehabilitation programmes for drug and mental health issues. In the abovementioned debate Richard Brown MSP pointed to the fact that currently one third of those entering prison have an alcohol problem, half have a history of, or develop, an addiction to drugs, while 70% have some form of mental illness. Supporters argue that tougher, longer and more tightly structured community programmes would benefit these individuals more than a prison sentence where they are susceptible to hardened career offenders.
Additionally, the legislation does not seek to remove the option of jail terms of 6 months or less completely, meaning that an individual appearing in court for the 40th time on shop lifting charges can still be sent to jail. Kenny MacAskill MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, has pointed to statistics which indicate that 84% of Scots agree that community service is a good idea for minor offenses, and thus, would not be seen as ‘soft touch’.
The case for keeping jail terms of 6 months or less.
Those in favour of keeping jail terms of 6 months or less, claim that scrapping them would send out the wrong signal to society especially when 35% of community service orders are not completed and a further 35% result in a breech of application. They claim that it would be viewed by the public as ‘soft touch’ as minor offenders would be free to carry on their normal lives despite the pain they have caused society.
Despite an annual cost of ₤40,000 per prisoner, Labour have gone further and claimed that scrapping short term sentencing would not save any money nor would it make Scotland safer.
The Verdict
What the political spectrum does agree on is the need for reform. Politicians agree that the current system is not providing the deterrent, rehabilitation or support which is required to prevent and assist individuals from (re)offending. Indeed many believe that community service is the right approach but currently lacks the scope and support required to make it a success. The problem for politicians appears to be striking the right balance between those individuals and crimes that merit a prison sentence and those which do not without being painted as soft on crime.
With opposition to the Bill coming in the form of Labour and the Conservatives, its passage in its entirety will no doubt be a long hard slog.
By Luke
