Skip to content
Law Society of Scotland
Search
Find a Solicitor
Contact us
About us
Sign in
Search
Find a Solicitor
Contact us
About us
Sign in
  • For members

    • For members

    • CPD & Training

    • Membership and fees

    • Rules and guidance

    • Regulation and compliance

    • Journal

    • Business support

    • Career growth

    • Member benefits

    • Professional support

    • Lawscot Wellbeing

    • Lawscot Sustainability

  • News and events

    • News and events

    • Law Society news

    • Blogs & opinions

    • CPD & Training

    • Events

  • Qualifying and education

    • Qualifying and education

    • Qualifying as a Scottish solicitor

    • Career support and advice

    • Our work with schools

    • Lawscot Foundation

    • Funding your education

    • Social mobility

  • Research and policy

    • Research and policy

    • Research

    • Influencing the law and policy

    • Equality and diversity

    • Our international work

    • Legal Services Review

    • Meet the Policy team

  • For the public

    • For the public

    • What solicitors can do for you

    • Making a complaint

    • Client protection

    • Find a Solicitor

    • Frequently asked questions

    • Your Scottish solicitor

  • About us

    • About us

    • Contact us

    • Who we are

    • Our strategy, reports and plans

    • Help and advice

    • Our standards

    • Work with us

    • Our logo and branding

    • Equality and diversity

  1. Home
  2. News and events
  3. Legal news
  4. Bill to reform bail and prisoner release published

Bill to reform bail and prisoner release published

9th June 2022 | criminal law | Criminal legal aid

The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill, which aims to refocus the way remand is used and assist the rehabilitation of offenders released from prison, has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The changes are designed to lead to greater public protection and victim safety and are intended to reduce crime, reoffending and victimisation.

Victim safety will be explicitly recognised as a specific factor in decision-making on bail – with a greater focus on using remand for those who pose a risk of serious harm. That includes considerations of both physical and psychological harm.

Ministers will come under a duty to publish national standards for support for people leaving prison, to improve the consistency of support. Release on a Friday or the day before a public holiday will be ended, so people are better able to access support. Pre-release planning will be improved, and a new approach to structured and monitored temporary release will put an emphasis on risk assessment and community support and management to support reintegration.

The bill will also enable the provision of information about prisoner release to victims’ organisations to inform the support they provide, and will explicitly recognise complainer safety as a specific factor in how the court makes decisions on bail. Courts will require to state and record their reasons for refusal of bail. They will also have to have regard to time spent on electronically monitored bail when imposing a custodial sentence.

A new permanent power is proposed, similar to temporary provisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, to release certain groups of prisoners in an emergency to protect the security and good order of prisons and the health, safety and wellbeing of prisoners and prison staff.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans Keith Brown said: "This bill recognises prison will always be necessary for the most serious cases, but we need to look again at how custody is used. The bill sets out proposals which will refocus the use of remand and support the rehabilitation and reintegration of people leaving custody, for example through improved release planning and support.

"This is an important step in the Scottish Government’s commitment to transforming the justice sector and a commitment to refocus how imprisonment is used."

Access the bill and related papers here.

Add To Favorites

Additional

  • News and events

In this section

  • Law Society news
  • CPD & Training
  • Blogs & opinions
  • Events
  • 75th Anniversary

Categories

  • civil litigation
  • criminal law
  • employment
  • obituary
  • careers
  • practice management
  • law society of scotland
  • government-administration
  • welfare/benefits
  • family-child law
  • reparation
  • professional regulation
  • property (non-commercial)
  • insolvency
  • consumer
  • human rights
  • mental health-adult incapacity
  • planning/environment
  • europe
  • information technology
  • immigration
  • education-training
  • executries
  • corporate
  • commercial property
  • agriculture-crofting
  • dispute resolution
  • risk management
  • intellectual property
  • client relations
  • tax
  • licensing
  • banking-financial services
  • trusts-asset management
  • reviews
  • opinion
  • For the public
  • Research and policy
  • Regulation
  • Journal online news
  • interview

News Archive

  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013

Related articles

  • Consultation explores support for learning disabilities
  • Ministers will not appeal s 35 ruling, nor withdraw bill
  • MSP committee majority backs Visitor Levy Bill
  • Too many Commissioners? MSPs to investigate
Law Society of Scotland
Atria One, 144 Morrison Street
Edinburgh
EH3 8EX
If you’re looking for a solicitor, visit FindaSolicitor.scot
T: +44(0) 131 226 7411
E: lawscot@lawscot.org.uk
About us
  • Contact us
  • Who we are
  • Strategy reports plans
  • Help and advice
  • Our standards
  • Work with us
Useful links
  • Find a Solicitor
  • Sign in
  • CPD & Training
  • Rules and guidance
  • Website terms and conditions
Law Society of Scotland | © 2025
Made by Gecko Agency Limited