The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: an Action Plan for Scotland

POLICE PRACTICE AND THE INVESTIGATION OF RACIST CRIME

18. That ACPO, in consultation with local Government and other relevant agencies, should review its Good Practice Guide for Police Response to Racial Incidents in the light of this Report and our Recommendations. Consideration should be given to the production by ACPO of a manual or model for such investigation, to complement their current Manual of Murder Investigation.

19. That ACPO devise Codes of Practice to govern Reviews of investigations of crime, in order to ensure that such Reviews are open and thorough. Such codes should be consistently used by all Police Services. Consideration should be given to such practice providing for Reviews to be carried out by an external Police Service.

ACPOS is to take forward these recommendations in consultation with its counterpart in England and Wales (ACPO). ACPOS is also considering the adoption of a policy on the resources devoted to major investigations to ensure the mistakes identified in the Lawrence case are avoided. Only Strathclyde has such a policy at present. In addition, the ACPOS Crime Committee will ensure that all forces produce comprehensive Major Crime Investigation Review Policy Documents based on updated ACPO guidelines and best practice. Lessons learnt from successful investigations should also be disseminated through debriefing of Senior Investigating Officers. The Policy Documents should cover the possibility of officers from other forces being invited to review the investigation.

Lead responsibility: ACPOS

20. That MPS procedures at the scene of incidents be reviewed in order to ensure co-ordination between uniformed and CID officers and to ensure that senior officers are aware of and fulfil the command responsibilities which their role demands.

21. That the MPS review their procedures for the recording and retention of information in relation to incidents and crimes, to ensure that adequate records are made by individual officers and specialist units in relation to their functions, and that strict rules require the retention of all such records as long as an investigation remains open.

22. That MPS review their internal inspection and accountability processes to ensure that policy directives are observed.

Although aimed at the Metropolitan Police Service, these recommendations are also relevant to the Scottish Police Service.

ACPOS accepts that there is scope for clarification of the role of uniformed and CID officers as the Report suggests. ACPOS Personnel and Training Committee will therefore produce proposals for including crime scene management, the role and responsibility of supervisors at crime scenes and the requirement to record policy decisions in training courses for officers up to and including superintendent.

The proper maintenance of records is standard procedure in all Scottish Police Forces. The importance of maintaining detailed and accurate major investigation policy books is emphasised in training for senior detective officers both at the Scottish Police College and at force level. All police officers are required to maintain notebooks to record operational matters. ACPOS Personnel and Training Committee will produce proposals for training of sergeants and inspectors at the Scottish Police College which emphasise the need for regular supervision and inspection of notebooks in order to ensure they are being kept properly.

Documents for unsolved murders are retained indefinitely. The period of retention of documents for detected serious crime is a matter for local policy, but is normally six or seven years after the last appeal. The problems of retaining and storing large volumes of material are likely to increase as a result of the work of the new Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. ACPOS is setting up a working group to review this question on a national basis, in consultation with other interested parties such as the Crown Office.

Scottish Police Forces have their own arrangements for internal examination of policy and practice, which are inspected regularly by HMIC. While these are considered robust, it is recognised that there is always scope for improvement and ACPOS will ask Chief Constables to monitor their internal inspection regimes to ensure policies are effectively implemented at all levels.

Lead responsibility: HMCIC, ACPOS and Chief Constables

FAMILY LIAISON

23. That Police Services should ensure that at local level there are readily available designated and trained Family Liaison Officers.

24. That training of Family Liaison Officers must include training in racism awareness and cultural diversity, so that families are treated appropriately, professionally, with respect and according to their needs.

25. That Family Liaison Officers shall, where appointed, be dedicated primarily if not exclusively to that task.

26. That Senior Investigating Officers and Family Liaison Officers be made aware that good practice and their positive duty shall be the satisfactory management of family liaison, together with the provision to a victim's family of all possible information about the crime and its investigation.

27. That good practice shall provide that any request made by the family of a victim which is not acceded to, and any complaint by any member of the family, shall be formally recorded by the SIO and shall be reported to the immediate superior officer.

28. That Police Services and Victim Support Services ensure that their systems provide for the pro-active use of local contacts within minority ethnic communities to assist with family liaison where appropriate.

Following research into the role of Family Liaison Officer (FLO) across Great Britain, it had already been recognised that the selection, training and deployment of Family Liaison Officers was inadequate. The Scottish Police College has developed a course for prospective FLOs, and the first course for 18 officers was completed on 2 July, with two further courses planned for this year. Racial and cultural awareness feature significantly in the course format. The content of the course will be evaluated and reviewed in the light of the reaction to the initial courses.

Training is already provided to Senior Investigating Officers and other detective officers on the importance of Family Liaison at the Scottish Police College. Notwithstanding the availability of a dedicated Family Liaison Officer, it is essential that the Senior Investigating officer and his Deputy maintain personal contact with the family to ensure they are satisfied with liaison and to remedy any complaints.

In addition to these initiatives, the ACPOS Crime Committee will progress a number of measures to implement these recommendations. FLOs will be dedicated to this task where possible, and any decision to the contrary will be recorded, with reasons, in the investigation documentation. Any complaint or family request denied will be similarly recorded and brought to the attention of the Senior Investigating Officer's line management.

ACPOS will consult with Victim Support Scotland on the recommendation to identify and recruit suitable members of ethnic minority groups who could play a role in Family Liaison.

Lead responsibility: ACPOS

VICTIMS AND WITNESSES

29. That Police Services should together with the Home Office develop guidelines as to the handling of victims and witnesses, particularly in the field of racist incidents and crimes. The Victim's Charter to be reviewed in this context.

30. That Police Services and Victim Support Services ensure that their systems provide for the pro-active use of local contacts within minority ethnic communities to assist with victim support and with the handling and interviewing of sensitive witnesses.

31. That Police Services ensure the provision of training and the availability of victim/witness liaison officers, and ensure their use in appropriate areas particularly in the field of racist incidents and crimes, where the need for a sensitive approach to young and vulnerable victims and witnesses is paramount.

In the Partnership for Scotland, the Scottish Executive reaffirmed its commitment to improving support for victims of crime. The Executive is currently preparing proposals to take forward the recommendations for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses in the consultation paper "Towards a Just Conclusion", which include preparation of national standards for the treatment of witnesses. There is currently no Victim's Charter in Scotland but the Scottish Executive is considering this possibility in response to the consultation exercise. Any proposal for national standards or a Victim's Charter would explicitly include racist incidents and crimes.

Victim Support Scotland is reviewing its policies and practice for the support of victims of racist crime and victims from ethnic minorities. All volunteers currently receive basic training for supporting victims of racist crime and working with victims from ethnic minority communities. Victim Support Scotland and ACPOS will work together on the use of local contacts within ethnic minority communities to help with victim support.

Central to both Family Liaison and victim and witness support is the availability of language interpretation services to victims of crime and their families. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service already ensure that ethnic minority witnesses and accused persons have an interpreter in criminal court proceedings if one is required. Police forces also have arrangements for accessing interpreting facilities locally for interviews with victims, witnesses and accused. However, the coverage of these services can be patchy. Provision of interpreting and translation services more widely in the public sector is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Executive will be examining the provision of interpreting and translating services in the criminal justice system and the public sector, in consultation with ACPOS and COSLA.

Lead responsibility: Scottish Executive.

PROSECUTION OF RACIST CRIMES

32. That the standard of proof of such crimes should remain unchanged.

33. That the CPS should consider that, in deciding whether a criminal prosecution should proceed, once the CPS evidential test is satisfied there should be a rebuttable presumption that the public interest test should be in favour of prosecution.

34. That Police Services and the CPS should ensure that particular care is taken at all stages of prosecution to recognise and to include reference to any evidence of racist motivation. In particular it should be the duty of the CPS to ensure that such evidence is referred to both at trial and in the sentencing process (including Newton hearings). The CPS and Counsel to ensure that no "plea bargaining" should ever be allowed to exclude such evidence.

The Lord Advocate issued detailed operational and policy guidance to procurators fiscal in September 1998 to coincide with the commencement of the racial provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The guidance was approved by the CRE prior to its issue. The Lord Advocate issued further guidance in the terms of recommendations 33 and 34 to procurators fiscal in April 1999.

All Scottish Police forces already highlight in Police Reports to the procurator fiscal any racist motivation. A new electronic format for Police Reports will be introduced which will include a field which will allow specific aggravations of offences, such as racist motivation, to be highlighted and tracked through the Criminal Justice System. Scottish Police Forces will continue to monitor and evaluate existing procedures to ensure that racist motivation is recognised and reported to the procurator fiscal. ACPOS will also ensure that issues from the Macpherson Report are highlighted in current work on the content of the Standard Police Report.

Lead responsibility: Crown Office and ACPOS

35. That the CPS ensure that a victim or victim's family shall be consulted and kept informed as to any proposal to discontinue proceedings.

36. That the CPS should have the positive duty always to notify a victim and victim's family personally of a decision to discontinue, particularly in cases of racist crime, with speed and sensitivity.

Accept subject to further consideration

Scottish criminal justice agencies are planning to introduce a system that will automatically inform victims about progress on a case, including decisions not to prosecute. For the time being, the policy is that the procurator fiscal concerned will always inform the family personally of a decision not to proceed in cases involving a death. Similarly, in cases of murder and culpable homicide, the next-of-kin will be kept informed of the progress of the enquiry as far as the requirements of the investigation allow.

Lead responsibility: Scottish Executive

37. That the CPS ensure that all decisions to discontinue any prosecution should be carefully and fully recorded in writing, and that save in exceptional circumstances, such written decisions should be disclosable to a victim or a victim's family.

Requires further consideration

Reasons for these decisions are recorded at the moment but are not disclosed because of sound public interest reasons, such as the effect on a witness of publicly disclosing that his or her evidence was considered unsound, or on an accused when proceedings are not taken because the available evidence was insufficient. It is not proposed to change this position at the moment, although the issue is likely to be discussed further during consultation on Freedom of Information. The Scottish Executive will also consider any proposals that emerge from the continuing work on the provision of information to victims by the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales announced by the Attorney General on 28 June 1999.

Lead responsibility: Crown Office

38. That consideration should be given to the Court of Appeal being given power to permit prosecution after acquittal where fresh and viable evidence is presented.

Accept recommendation to consider

In Scotland the consent of the Lord Advocate has to be sought to a private prosecution so the circumstances that occurred in the Lawrence case and led to this recommendation should not arise. The Lord Advocate has already indicated his doubts about this recommendation to the Scottish Grand Committee. The Scottish Executive does not plan to refer this matter to the Scottish Law Commission, but will consider the conclusions of the Law Commission for England and Wales when it reports.

Lead responsibility: Scottish Executive

39. That consideration should be given to amendment of the law to allow prosecution of offences involving racist language or behaviour, and of offences involving the possession of offensive weapons, where such conduct can be proved to have taken place otherwise than in a public place.

Accept recommendation to consider

The Scottish Executive shares the reservations expressed in the Home Secretary's action plan about going beyond the law as it stands. There are particular concerns about the compatibility of the proposed offences with Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 10 (freedom of expression) on the European Convention on Human Rights. However, there is a review being carried out by the Home Office and their conclusions, which are due by the end of 1999, will be considered by the Scottish Executive.

Lead responsibility: Scottish Executive

40. That the ability to initiate a private prosecution should remain unchanged.

It should be noted that the circumstances in Scotland are different than in England and Wales, as the consent of the Lord Advocate must be sought to a private prosecution, and has only been given twice in modern times.

Lead responsibility: Crown Office

41. That consideration should be given to the proposition that victims or victims' families should be allowed to become "civil parties" to criminal proceedings, to facilitate and to ensure the provision of all relevant information to victims or their families.

Accept subject to further consideration

The procurator fiscal already has a duty to bring the loss and trauma suffered by the victim to the attention of the court in cases where there is a plea of guilty. Other methods of involving the views of victims and their families in proceedings are currently being considered by a sub-group of the Scottish Victims Steering Group. The sub-group will consider the recommendation as well as the outcome of the English pilot project into taking victims' views into account.

Lead responsibility: Scottish Executive

42. That there should be advance disclosure of evidence and documents as of right to parties who have leave from a Coroner to appear at an Inquest.

43. That consideration be given to the provision of Legal Aid to victims or the families of victims to cover representation at an Inquest in appropriate cases.

Both of these recommendations represent current practice in Scotland. Parties represented at a Fatal Accident Inquiry are already provided with a list of witnesses and copies of documentary productions. Legal aid for representation at Fatal Accident Inquiries is also available, subject to the applicant meeting statutory tests of financial eligibility, probable cause and reasonableness.

Lead responsibility: Scottish Executive

44. That Police Services and the Courts seek to prevent the intimidation of victims and witnesses by imposing appropriate bail conditions.

It is already a standard condition of bail in Scotland that the accused does not interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. Procurators fiscal will ask for additional conditions to be imposed if necessary. The consultation paper "Towards a Just Conclusion" recommended that measures be taken to improve the effectiveness of imposing bail conditions, and this recommendation will be taken forward by ACPOS and the Crown Office in the context of that work.

Lead responsibility: ACPOS and Crown Office