This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Driving Disqualification to be available for the general range of offences in two pilot schemes
31/12/1997
Disqualification from driving may now be made available as a punishment for the whole range of offences, not just motoring offences, under a new provision in the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997. Section 15 of the Act, extending the availability of disqualification from driving, comes into force on January 1, 1998.
This new disposal will be piloted for 18 months in Paisley and Perth Sheriff Courts.
Announcing the commencement of the pilot scheme, Henry McLeish, Scottish Office Minister for Home Affairs and Transport said today:
"The ability to impose disqualification from driving in non-motoring cases represents a potentially useful new disposal. The courts may employ it in conjunction with, or instead of, any other penalty available to them.
"We believe disqualification can be an effective punishment for a whole range of less serious offences. It will become more than just a way of keeping bad drivers off the road. A fine restricts a person's economic liberty and community sentences restrict his liberty to decide how to spend his free time. Similarly disqualification will deny offenders the freedom and convenience which driving affords them. It will be as painful for some to lose their licence, perhaps more so, as to incur fines or community sentences.
"We are keen to develop a range of punishments for minor offenders and those who may be unable to pay their fines. Disqualification from driving is a punishment that may hit some lesser offenders hard, though imprisonment will remain without doubt the right option for those who commit the most serious crimes.
"The new arrangements will be monitored carefully through the pilot schemes in Perth and Paisley before we decide whether to make them available more widely."
BACKGROUND
Section 15 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997, which extends the availability of disqualification from driving to the general range of offences, comes into force on January 1, 1998. It allows the courts to disqualify offenders from driving in respect of any offence. At present disqualification from driving is only available in respect of motoring offences, or where a vehicle has been used for the purposes of committing, or facilitating the commission of, another offence.