Subj: UK: Sco: Police chief warns new laws face court test



Date: 28 Dec, 1999



Source: The Herald (UK)





  

Police chief warns new laws face court test

LYNNE ROBERTSON 



POTENTIAL grey areas for policing centring around new human 

rights rules will only be ironed out as the law is tested in 

Scotland's courtrooms, a leading police chief has claimed.



The chief constable of Fife, Mr John Hamilton, believes only 

the development and advancement of the new laws in courtroom 

test cases will lead to clarity over how the European 

Convention on Human Rights, which came into force in 

Scotland in May, will fully impact on sensitive aspects of 

policing.



These aspects include the power to stop and search, and the 

right to detain a suspect for up to six hours without access 

to legal representation.



In the seven months since the legislation was introduced, Mr 

Hamilton admitted the law remained unclear on certain 

aspects of police work.



"There are a number of areas that are either unclear or have 

only to be determined through court decisions and legal 

precedents that will actively build up to a block of case 

law in Scotland that will allow us to determine in each of 

these cases what the processes and practices ought to be."



He said he expected the right to stop and search to be 

challenged at a UK-wide level under human rights 

legislation, although separate challenges were expected in 

Scotland over the right to legal assistance, which the 

police would be likely to oppose.



"In Scotland police can detain a person for up to six hours 

and can deny access to legal representation. That is a bone 

of contention with some solicitors.



"The reason for it is it allows police to carry out initial 

immediate inquiries in terms of follow-up searches and so 

on. The problems that we have is that many solicitors might 

be in other parts of the country. Proper investigation of a 

crime could be delayed until proper professional legal 

assistance arrived, and that would not necessarily be in the 

interests of either prevention of further crime or the 

apprehension of other offenders. That is the principle 

reason we would argue to retain it."



Mr Hamilton said that in his force area, following talks 

with local lawyers and fiscals, there was a presumption of 

access to legal representation unless there were good 

reasons for denial.



He produced figures which appeared to show the new rules had 

yet to impact fully, which he claimed could be attributed to 

"a lack of awareness" among prisoners or the legal 

profession biding its time until test case outcomes are 

known.



"During October we had 889 persons taken into custody in 

Fife. Of those, only two custodies requested interviews with 

a solicitor. Only three solicitors requested interview with 

their custodies. As it happens, all five requests were 

granted without further to do because of the circumstances, 

and that might well be replicated across Scotland as well."