MSPS are to be given the chance to vote on a UK-wide plan to revamp sentencing for terror offences.
Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf announced yesterday a legislative consent motion (LCM) has been lodged at Holyrood to let MSPs vote on the legislation. An LCM can be lodged in the UK’s devolved administrations when a Bill introduced at Westminster legislates on a devolved matter.
But the result of an LCM is not binding and cannot act as a veto, as was the case last month when Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland voted to withhold consent for the Brexit Bill.
The Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Bill was introduced in the Commons after the terror attack in Streatham earlier this month.
It emerged the attacker – who stabbed two people before police killed him – was released from prison 10 days before.
The legislation aims to move the earliest release point from half of a custodial sentence to two-thirds, with parole boards assessing the risk of offenders.
Yousaf said while there should be reform of sentencing, more should be done to stop radicalisation and ensure terror offences are never planned. The LCM is due to be debated at Holyrood next week.
Yousaf said: “The UK Government policy to change early release rules for terrorists requires consequential changes to Scottish ministers’ functions in the area of release of prisoners that require legislative consent to be given.
“We have now lodged an LCM for the Scottish Parliament’s approval to minimise the risk of error and confusion arising in the law so that workable enforcement of sentencing provisions can operate in the future.”
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