Justice 1 Committee, 16 Mar 2005

Meeting date: Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Official Report 219KB pdf

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Petition

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Miscarriages of Justice (Aftercare) (PE477)

We move on to item 3. Members will note that the agenda for the meeting was revised because I thought that it was important to draw to members' attention the minister's announcement of funding for the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Scotland). I thought that this was a good-news story for us because we were pursuing the issue through the petition. Members may wish to comment

Members will see from the minister's letter that some substantial funding has been granted to MOJO for several years—not entirely because of the petition—so that it can set up an advice line to deal with some issues such as the psychological consequences for those who have suffered a miscarriage of justice. I thought that the committee would be pleased about that news. If members want to put something on the record, they can do so.

I welcome the Executive's announcement. It is a good response. I also welcome the fact that the letter from the Executive talked about the kind of services that might be available. Although I recognise that a residential facility might be a big issue for people in these circumstances, it is also right that the Executive is not thinking that it can just buy bricks and mortar and that will be the end of the problem, which goes much deeper than that.

Although I hope that the money will be adequate for lots of people in these circumstances, I am sure that the Executive will want to keep it under review in the future to see whether the resources that have been identified are adequate to deal with the problems that people experience. However, I hope that the numbers remain small.

I am at a slight disadvantage because I have not seen the letter.

It was a late paper.

It is so late that I do not have it. That does not detract from the fact that I think that what the organisation does is extremely worth while. Convener, obviously you and Bill Butler have had an interest in the organisation. The funding is welcome. I suspect that those who have been involved with the organisation will think that the announcement is long overdue, but at last there has been some form of recognition.

I am not in a position to comment on whether the amount of money that we are talking about will be sufficient for the purpose, but it is the recognition that has been given to the organisation that is fundamentally important.

I have spoken to the organisers of MOJO who tell me that, prior to the announcement, they were about to fold because of lack of financial sustainability. They are delighted with the news.

When we come to look at our forward work programme, we might find that we have some outstanding items in relation to the general issue of miscarriages of justice. One of the issues that I have been pursuing is the compensation scheme. There are some issues surrounding how it is applied, and one or two other issues that were raised by the petition. However, that is a matter for the committee to pick up at a later date.

In the high-profile cases of people who were released from prison and had their names cleared after it was discovered that their convictions had been unfounded, it was striking that large amounts were deducted from their compensation payments to pay for their food and board in prison. That must come as a major slap in the face to anyone in that situation. I am not quite sure whether it is within our remit to consider that matter but it should be examined. If someone is awarded compensation for being in prison when they should not have been in prison, it is niggardly, to say the least, to make such deductions from their compensation payment. That is a dreadful way to treat someone in that situation.

Obviously the organisation is going to help the innocent victims of the judicial system and, as such, it is to be welcomed.

Thank you for that.

We agreed to deal with item 4 in private.

Meeting continued in private until 13:09.