Justice 1 Committee, 08 Oct 2002

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 8, 2002

Official Report 188KB pdf

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Items in Private

I convene the 34th meeting this year of the Justice 1 Committee. I remind members and anyone else present to turn off mobile phones and pagers.

I have received apologies from Paul Martin. Maureen Macmillan will be here at around
2.45 pm.

I propose that the committee take items 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 in private. That seems like a lot of items to take in private, but let me explain why we should do so. Item 2 is consideration of lines of questioning for the witnesses who will provide evidence on the treatment of sex offenders and on rehabilitation within the Scottish Prison Service. We usually discuss lines of questioning in private. Does the committee agree to take that item in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 5 is consideration of the committee's approach to its inquiry into alternatives to custody. We should take that item in private to allow the committee to discuss our forward work programme and the selection of witnesses for that inquiry. We prefer to discuss the selection of witnesses in private, although the decisions will be made public. Do I have the committee's agreement to take item 5 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 6 is consideration of our approach to the Council of the Law Society of Scotland Bill. It is suggested that we deal with that in private to allow us to discuss our forward work programme and the selection of witnesses for that bill. Again, the decisions will be made public. Do I have members' agreement to take that item in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 7 is consideration of witnesses' expenses for our report on the prison estates review. We usually discuss such items in private because they concern the expenses of individual witnesses, which the committee would not think appropriate to discuss in public. Do I have the committee's agreement to take item 7 in private?

Members indicated agreement.

Item 8 is consideration of the draft report for our inquiry into the legal profession. Do I have the committee's agreement to discuss the item in private to allow freedom of discussion?

Members indicated agreement.

I also ask the committee to agree that, at future meetings, we will discuss in private our draft reports for the inquiry into the regulation of the legal profession, for the Protection of Children (Scotland) Bill and for the Title Conditions (Scotland) Bill. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Having cleared all that out of the way, I ask members of the public to leave the room. We shall recall them later.

Meeting continued in private.

Meeting continued in public.