Report to the People
6th December 2004
Board with the Lack of Change
To
the outside observer and even a humble backbencher, politics can be a slow
business. The wheels of government
seem to take an age to grind. But,
if you make your case often and persuasively, grind they do.
Take
crime. I am not the only MSP who
has represented constituents who, after falling victim to an offence, felt
excluded and humiliated by the system. Victims
or their families were told that, in effect, matters such as the parole system
were nothing to do with them. After
a conviction, their involvement was at an end.
And so it was for decades.
But,
if there’s one thing the Scottish Parliament’s good at, it’s changing the
detail of the legal system. Indeed,
some might argue that it was the purpose for which its founding fathers set it
up. And, after years of sustained
pressure, new rights for victims were brought in.
Now
that the wheels have been set in motion, however, they show no signs of slowing
down.
Justice
Minister, Cathy Jamieson, for example, looks set to reform the Parole Board,
making it more accountable. She has
suggested that parole decisions could be challenged and reasons given for
releases on licence. Sound moves
which deserve, as I said to Jack McConnell at First Minister’s Question Time
on Thursday, our backing.
As
members of the public, we are not disinterested bystanders in the justice
process. It exists to serve us and
we must be at its heart.
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