Law academics secure significant changes to justice Bill

Holyrood has made significant changes to proposals to modernise the legal rules in criminal cases involving young people, following an intervention by law academics from Glasgow Caledonian.

As originally drafted, the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill would have made it an offence for children and young people involved in criminal cases to share their experiences on social media.

The Bill seeks to establish a consistent approach to anonymity for children who witness, are victims of, or are accused of crime.

During the public consultation period, law lecturers Dr Andrew Tickell and Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe researched international best practice, analysing how reformed anonymity rules have been reformed in the age of social media, in more than 20 different jurisdictions.

The research identified key recommendations for the Bill to be improved, including amendments to recognise the right of children and young people to waive their anonymity, and proposals for greater legal certainty about when reporting restrictions begin to apply to child suspects, witnesses and suspected victims.

Recommendations to allow courts to extend reporting restrictions for child complainers and witnesses – as well as children convicted of crime; remove the Scottish Government's power to dispense with reporting restrictions from the Bill; and to increase the maximum penalty for violating reporting restrictions, were also accepted.

Dr Tickell, senior law lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian, said: "These welcome amendments introduce the principle of child autonomy into the legislation, reflect the reality of how children use social media, and will ensure that young people can to communicate about their experiences of the justice system without fear of committing a crime themselves."