The Electronic Monitoring (Relevant Disposals) (Modification) (Scotland) Regulations 2020

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations modify the list of relevant disposals in section 3(2) of the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 (“the 2019 Act”) alongside which a requirement may be imposed by the court under section 1 of the 2019 Act.

A requirement imposed by the court under section 1 of the 2019 Act is a requirement that a person must submit to monitoring by means of an approved device. An approved device is a device of a type prescribed by the Scottish Ministers under section 8 of the 2019 Act. The person subject to the requirement is then monitored for the purposes of ascertaining their compliance with (1) the underlying court order to which they are subject and (2) the standard electronic monitoring obligations in section 12 of the 2019 Act.

These Regulations add two new entries to the list of relevant disposals in section 3(2) of the 2019 Act – the imposition of bail conditions under section 24(4) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995; and the variation of bail conditions in accordance with sections 28(4)(c), 30, 31, 32 or 71(1C)(b) of that Act.

Section 4(3) of the 2019 provides that a reference to a relevant disposal mentioned in section 3(2) relates to a monitoring requirement under section 1(1) only insofar as the disposal concerns a person’s whereabouts or the person’s consumption etc. of alcohol, drugs or other substances. This means that, in relation to the imposition or variation of bail conditions, a requirement under section 1 of the 2019 Act could only be imposed alongside a bail condition which relates to the individual’s movements or consumption of substances. The court’s power to impose a requirement under section 1 is also limited by the extent to which the Scottish Ministers have approved electronic devices under section 8 of the 2019 Act as electronic monitoring can only take place by means of an approved device.