§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to amend the laws on loitering; and if he will make a statement. [18983]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThere is no criminal offence of loitering in Scotland and there are no plans to introduce one.
A law against loitering would unduly restrict the rights of assembly and movement of law-abiding citizens. Instead, there are a number of common law and statutory offences which target specific types of anti-social and criminal behaviour associated with loitering. In particular, section 46 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 makes it an offence for any person to loiter in a public place for the purposes of prostitution. Section 53 of the same Act makes it an offence for a pedestrian in a public 76W place wilfully to obstruct the lawful passage of others. In addition, behaviour likely to cause alarm or annoyance may constitute the common law crime of breach of the peace.