Crown Office (Hansard, 12 July 1993)

§ Mr. Watson
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representatives of the Crown Office have attended courses in racial awareness.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is an equal opportunities employer whose training courses where appropriate have a component dealing with racial awareness. Procurators fiscal are also encouraged to meet representatives of local community relations councils and similar bodies to discuss issues of concern to ethnic minorities. Crown Office staff meet and correspond from time to time with the Commission for Racial Equality.

§ Mr. Watson
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he has taken to enable the Crown Office to equip procurators fiscal and depute fiscals to prosecute in cases of racially motivated crimes.
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§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
It is not the function of the Secretary of State for Scotland to equip prosecutors to carry out their duties. Procurators fiscal have been instructed by my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate always to take into account, when considering whether proceedings are in the public interest, evidence that a crime was racially motivated. They will also ensure that information about such an aggravating factor is brought to the attention of the court before sentence is passed.

§ Mr. Watson
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland(a) how many cases of racial harassment or racially motivated crimes or offences have been reported by Scottish police forces to the Crown Office during the last full year for which such figures are available, (b) how many of such cases have been brought to prosecution by the Crown Office and (c) how many such prosecutions have resulted in convictions.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Figures are not available which show the total number of cases of racial harassment reported by the police to procurators fiscal, although in 1992 the police recorded 38 cases in the category comprising offences under the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Public Order Act 1986. Cases involving racial harassment are often prosecuted at common law and in that event prosecutions and convictions are not being recorded in such a way as to allow those which are racially motivated to be counted separately.