Legislation / Legal
ScotGov: New powers which will allow law enforcement agencies to recover even more gangsters' profits came into force last week as Ministers seek to crack down further on the illegal activities of the criminal underworld.
Under changes being brought in to strengthen the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the range of offences that qualify as being a criminal lifestyle will be extended to include even more crimes. The threshold for the other criminal lifestyle tests will also be lowered from £5,000 to £1,000, meaning that more profits can be stripped from all levels of criminals operating in Scotland.
PCS: The PCS union and the Prison Officers Association have launched legal action against the newly imposed civil service redundancy scheme, known as the civil service compensation scheme (CSCS). The unions have made a claim for a judicial review, which challenges the decision of 22 December 2011 to introduce a new civil service compensation scheme - reducing redundancy benefits by up to a third.
The claim seeks a declaration that the new scheme and the changes to the law - called the Superannuation Act 2010 - which were ‘rushed through’ parliament in the autumn, are incompatible with the Human Rights Act. Following the submission of their case the unions are now waiting for a response from the Cabinet Office and a date for a hearing in the High Court.
Newswire – SAC: The Scottish Affairs Committee has published its report on the Scotland Bill, in which it says the Bill achieves its stated purpose of increasing the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament, but identifies a number of areas for improvement.
ScotGov: The double jeopardy principle dates back over 800 years, but questions have been raised in recent years about whether it needed to be modernised for the 21st Century. Following a consultation with Scotland's legal profession, the public, victims and their families last year, formal steps were taken by Ministers to make the legislative changes required and a Bill was passed last week by the Scottish Parliament.
The rule will not be removed - double jeopardy is a fundamental principle of Scots law which provides essential protection against the state repeatedly pursuing an individual for the same act. However, certain exceptions will now apply.
