Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations extend to Scotland only. These Regulations replace with amendments the Sex Offenders (Notification Requirements) (Prescribed Police Stations) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (S.S.I. 2001/173) (“the 2001 Regulations”) which are revoked by these Regulations (regulation 3).
The Sex Offenders Act 1997 (“the 1997 Act”) specifies in Part I that certain sex offenders are subject to requirements to notify certain personal details to the police. Section 2(5) of the 1997 Act (as amended by the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (c. 43) (“the 2000 Act”)) provides for such notifications to be given in some cases by attending at any police station in a person’s local police area and in other cases by sending a written notice to any such police station. “Local police area” is defined in section 2(7) of the 1997 Act. The 2000 Act also introduced a power for the Scottish Ministers to provide for section 2(5) of the 1997 Act to have effect such that instead of the required notification being at, or by writing to, any police station in a person’s local police area, the police station would be one prescribed by regulations.
The 2001 Regulations had the effect of requiring notifications to be made by attending at, or writing to, any police station in a person’s local police area provided that station is mentioned in the list set out in the Schedule to those Regulations. These Regulations have the same effect except that the Schedule to these Regulations now includes the correct address for Dunbar Police Station, corrects the spelling in the address of Aikenhead Road Police Station and includes Livingston Police Station which was previously omitted from the list.