This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Review of Ministerial decision making
05/12/2006
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson has invited Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson to undertake a review of Scottish Ministers' involvement in decisions relating to the release of prisoners and other individual cases within the criminal justice system.
Ministers are currently involved directly or indirectly - via delegated powers - in a wide variety of individual case decisions such as the temporary release of life sentence prisoners to enable them to take up work placements or obtain home leave, release of short term prisoners on Home Detention Curfew and release of restricted patients.
Proposals in the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, will require Ministers to make decisions on whether to release offenders at the end of the custody part of their sentence specified by the court or whether to refer the case to the Parole Board for consideration.
Under the Bill, Ministers will also become solely responsible for recalling to custody offenders who have breached a licence condition - at present this power is shared with the Parole Board for Scotland.
The review will consider the decision-making processes in these and other cases where Scottish Ministers take decisions affecting individuals within the criminal justice system, and make appropriate recommendations.
The remit to which Sheriff Principal Nicholson has been asked to work is:
"To review Scottish Ministers' role in decisions about the management of individual offenders and in other individual criminal justice cases to ensure that there is an appropriate and legally competent separation between Executive process and the administration of justice. And to make recommendations."
Sheriff Principal Nicholson has been asked to report to Ministers by the end of 2007.
It is not intended that a formal consultation paper will be issued for this review. However, Sheriff Principal Nicholson will, in due course, be seeking views of interested parties on the current decision-making processes and on any proposals that might emerge during the course of his review.
Sheriff Principal Gordon Nicholson is a former Sheriff Principal of Lothian and Borders and is currently a temporary High Court Judge. He is the author of 'The Law and Practice of Sentencing in Scotland' and is the joint editor of 'Sheriff Court Practice'. He led a comprehensive review of liquor licensing law in Scotland for the Executive from 2002 to 2003.