This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Making sure crime doesn't pay
10/11/2006
New proposals published today aim to prevent criminals profiting from the sale of their crime stories.
The UK-wide consultation published today sets out a range of possible options for tackling this problem such as creating a new criminal offence; introducing a new civil scheme for recovery of profits or extending the self-regulatory approach.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said:
"Convicted criminals should not be allowed to profit from their crimes by selling stories of their evil exploits. Let's not forget that these crimes have victims, have been carried out at the expense of the law abiding public and have often caused considerable misery in hard-hit communities.
"We cannot allow selfish criminals to make further profit on the back of this misery - or hold themselves up as false figureheads for impressionable youngsters.
"Crime in Scotland is falling and violent crime is at its lowest since devolution. We are already hitting criminals in the pocket through the Proceeds of Crime Act. Already over #10 million of their ill-gotten gains has been seized. We now want to build on that by stopping them from reaping any rewards from telling the story of their crimes.
"That's why we are working with colleagues in the rest of the UK to seek views on how best to prevent convicted criminals from profiting from books or articles about their crimes."
The joint consultation by the Scottish Executive, the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Office seeks views on four possible options for tackling the issue:
- making receipt by and/or payment to convicted criminals of money for publications about their crimes a criminal offence
- introducing a new civil scheme for the recovery of profits based on the civil recovery provisions in the Proceeds of Crime Act (preferred option)
- extending the self-regulatory approach governing the press to other groups such as book publishers and film-makers
- maintaining the current position
Details of the consultation entitled "Making Sure that Crime Doesn't Pay: Proposals for a new measure to prevent convicted criminals from profiting from published accounts of their crime" can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultation/Current.
Written responses are required by February 9, 2007 and should be addressed to MSCDPConsultation@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk or
Steven Reynolds
Criminal Procedure Division
Scottish Executive Justice Department
GW.14
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG