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SUBMISSION
To: Mr Kenny MacAskill, M.S.P.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
Sir,
[1] On 30 November 2006 the then Minister for Justice, Cathy Jamieson, invited me to conduct a review of Ministers' involvement in decision-making in individual criminal justice cases. In her letter of that date the Minister noted that the need for the review "stems from those provisions in the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Bill 1 that require Scottish Ministers to
- decide whether an offender should begin the community part of their sentence at the end of the court imposed custody part or should be referred to the Parole Board, on the grounds of risk, for it to consider keeping the offender in custody; and
- be solely responsible for recalling to custody offenders who have breached a licence condition (ending the current sharing of this responsibility with the Parole Board)."
[2] The Minister went on to set out my terms of reference, as follows:
"To review the 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."
The Minister also advised me that she had arranged for me to be supported in my work by Diane Machin, an official in what was then the Justice Department. 2
[3] Initially, I was asked to complete my report by the end of 2007. However, in the early summer of that year I was asked to advance completion of my report to late autumn, and I am happy to say that I have been able to comply with that request.
Submission
[4] I now have the honour to submit this report. Should you consider that it would be helpful for us to meet in order to discuss any of the report's content, I would, of course, be happy to take part in such a meeting at a mutually convenient time.
Gordon Nicholson
October 2007
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