AboutBruce Fyfe Expertise Scottish Criminal Law - any area. NOT IMMIGRATION ISSUES. I am a serving, operational Police Officer with 25 years` service. As well as my own knowledge and training, I can draw on many other resources in the Scottish criminal justice system and welcome the challenge.
NB Scottish, not English; criminal, not civil or immigration;
Expert: Bruce Fyfe Date: 11/1/2005 Subject: Alternatives to Incarceration
Question My question is if Scottish Criminal Law allows for individuals not of Scottish citizenship, let's say German or American, to be deported upon indictment of a crime. If while on holiday a citizien from another country is indicted with assault and robbery or even attempted murder, would the judiciary system of your country allow for the deportation of the individual to their home country with supplemental fees/fines instead of filling a cell and wasting money on reforming somebody not necessarily in the best interest of the Scottish people? It is my understanding that community service is often held as an alternative to custodial sentencing, but with the individual not being from Scotland, this does not seem feasible. I have also read many articles about women being deported to their home countries to allow for closer family ties and to alleviate the unncessary stresses and psychological strains of separations. Does the same hold true for men? Lastly, is Scotland still combating an overpopulation of the prison system as seen and documented in 2003 and early 2004? I would appreciate any insight you have on any of the above questions.
Answer The Repatriation of Prisoners Act 1984 would allow for the repatriation of convicted prisoners under certain circumstances.
Under the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993,
a person is liable to removal from the United Kingdom if he—
(a) is liable to deportation under section 3(5) of the [1971 c. 77.] Immigration Act 1971 and has been notified of a decision to make a deportation order against him;
(b) is liable to deportation under section 3(6) of that Act;
(c) has been notified of a decision to refuse him leave to enter the United Kingdom; or
(d) is an illegal immigrant within the meaning of section 33(1) of that Act.
The Times September 28, 2005
'Twin curses' still haunt Scotland's overcrowded jails
By Angus Macleod, Scottish Political Editor
OVERCROWDING and slopping-out remain the “twin curses” of Scotland's jails, the Chief Inspector of Prisons said yesterday.
The annual report from Andrew McLellan also said that a new method of counting prisoner places would distort the true picture of overcrowding. Dr McLellan pointed to changes which meant that the number of prisoners in a jail might far exceed its design capacity, thus masking the real problem.
The Chief Inspector said that overcrowding was “slightly less grim, but only slightly,” than last year and he also noted a fall in the number of prisoners who were having to slop out. He said that the total number of inmates in the prison system in Scotland peaked at 6,999, compared with 7,074 in the previous year. Design capacity in Scotland's prisons was unchanged, meaning that peak overcrowding fell by 1 per cent but still 13 per cent above design capacity.
“Under new contract arrangements prisons are contracted to take a certain number of prisoners,” Dr McLellan noted. “That number may be considerably higher than the number of places in the design capacity of the prison, but it will become the number against which overcrowding will be measured.”
He cited the example of Inverness prison, which has a design capacity for 108 prisoners. The jail was contracted by the Scottish Prison Service to have 160 prisoners, which meant that it was contracted for 48 per cent overcrowding.
A spokeswoman for the service said that it had put in place performance contracts for each prison. “These contracts recognise that some prisons regularly experience overcrowding. Where overcrowding levels in these prisons exceed the level identified for contractual purposes, the governors are able to enter into discussions for additional resources.”
Dr McLellan said that the number of inmates still having to slop out — using bed pots and pans — had fallen sharply from 1,324, or 19 per cent of the prison population, to 616, or 9 per cent, over the year. No prisoners sharing cells were slopping out, and Dr McLellan noted that the prison service aimed to have the practice confined to Peterhead and Polmont Young Offender Institution by the end of the year.
He said: “Before August 2004 there were five. Two, however, is still two too many.”
The Chief Inspector also voiced concern at the plight of women prisoners, whose numbers increased over the year, and the practice of holding children (18 in total) in prisons. He said that provision for women held in small numbers in some jails, such as Aberdeen and Dumfries, was very limited and that the presence of any child in prison was a sign of failure in the efforts at early intervention to stop youngsters falling into lives of crime. “The presence of each child under 16 in prison is the most stark illustration of the cost of failure, and of how far Scotland has to go,” he said.
Cathy Jamieson, the Justice Minister, said that the report highlighted the “real progress” made over the past year in the prison system. She said that slopping-out was scheduled to end at Polmont over the next 18 months and the Executive was consulting on Peterhead.
