The Scottish Parliament last week approved plans designed to improve the scrutiny of prisons right across the country, with a new independent monitoring service established to help ensure that all aspects of prisons are fully and independently monitored. Announcing the changes, Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: "The previous system for [...]

Changes are to be made to the way community justice services are delivered in Scotland. In response to a consultation, the Scottish government announced this week that it would introduce a new model for community justice. Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said that the new approach would "create a stronger community [...]

The number of murder cases in Scotland has dropped to the lowest level on record, a new report showed this week. Homicide in Scotland 2013-14, which is compiled from police figures, reveals that there were 61 homicide victims last year, a decrease from the previous year and the lowest number [...]

The Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) – the national membership body for Scotland's charities and voluntary organisations – is lobbying for drugs laws to be devolved, asking for Scotland to be given the power to decriminalise cannabis. The group has formally asked the Smith Commission, which was set up [...]

Claims are being made that a controversial piece of legislation, originally used to tackle terrorism, is being exploited and misused by local police for petty crimes. The Regulation of Investigatory Power (Scotland) Act (RIPSA), was introduced in 2000 giving the police, security services and HM Revenue & Customs the permission [...]

After the changes made to justice system in Scotland, now is the time to reform "hugely complex" legal aid too, according to a discussion paper published by the Law Society of Scotland. The paper suggests a number of possible reforms, including reducing the eligibility levels for civil legal aid, along [...]

Earlier this month Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced that revenge pornography – sharing sexually explicit material of former partners without their consent – is to become a criminal offence. The new legislation, approved by the House of Lords, will be introduced into the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill and the [...]

Home secretary Theresa May has made a promise to introduce a statutory time limit to prevent those accused of crimes from spending months or years on bail without being charged by police. At present, bail conditions set by the police can be challenged in a magistrate's court but there is [...]

It is now a criminal offence to force someone into marriage in Scotland. A forced marriage is defined as one where either or both parties do not or cannot consent to the marriage and coercion is involved. The new offence comes in addition to protections previously in place: Scottish courts [...]

Police Scotland has changed its controversial policy on the deployment of armed officers. In future, firearms officers attached to armed response vehicles will only be deployed to incidents involving firearms or where there is a threat to life. The move comes in response to concerns over a "standing authority" which [...]