Some victims of crime will be allowed to appear at parole hearings of prisoners who offended against them, under Scottish Government plans.
Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing yesterday told MSPs that many victims left “scarred for life” will be allowed to give evidence in “appropriate” cases.
The move will bring Scotland into line with England, where victims can already make “personal statements” to parole boards.
Mr Ewing told Holyrood’s justice committee: “The Scottish Government will put together proposals that will allow victims to be heard at appropriate parole board hearings.”
He said this included a commitment to let victims make “oral statements”.
The measures will be brought forward “as soon as possible”, Mr Ewing said.
He indicated these may not require primary legislation. It could be done through amendments to parole board rules, but these will still come before parliament.
“All of us as representatives of constituents will have on occasion received requests to assist those who have been victims of serious crimes,” Mr Ewing said.
“We do recognise the plight of the victim is something of huge importance.”
An amendment by Labour MSP Margaret Curran to the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill would have allowed victims to appear at parole board hearings, but this was voted down by MSPs.
It followed a warning by Mr Ewing about the measures proposed by Mrs Curran, although she welcomed the government’s commitment to bring forward proposals.
She said: “Victims have a right to be heard and parole boards have a right to hear that representation, and to make sure they understand the full impact of any decision.”
Mrs Curran said the measure would “empower victims and also ultimately empower the parole board”.
But the SNP’s Stewart Maxwell warned that parole board hearings could almost turn into a “second trial”.
He said: “Victims inevitably – it’s quite understandable – will focus on the original incident, as opposed to what the parole board’s job is.
“I think the parole board’s job is much wider than that.”
Labour amendments to the bill which would have extended the cases where DNA could be retained were later rejected by MSPs.
Labour’s James Kelly wanted to see the DNA of anyone prosecuted, but not convicted, being retained for six years in all cases.
This would have brought Scotland in line with the rest of the UK but the measures were voted down 5-3 by the committee.
Mr Kelly said afterwards: “It simply does not make sense for Scotland to have weaker laws on DNA retention that the rest of the UK.”