THE Scottish criminal justice system seems intent on pursuing a course that favours the offender at the expense of society in general ("Clean slate for criminals who get up to four years in prison", The Herald, April 23).
In your editorial ("Reforms planned to help rehabilitate offenders", The Herald, April 23) you state: "It is clear that the current out-of-date rules are ripe for reform." I would ask "says who?" Nobody asked my opinion; nobody asked the opinion of the vast majority of the population, those who are the pool of individuals on which the crimes are perpetrated.
The consultation process sought responses from a dozen individuals, one of whom was convicted MSP Bill Walker and countless organisations, very few of which have the remit to voice the specific concerns of the victims of crime. The "stakeholders" - aka everybody bar the general public - suggest the future law should incorporate elements that would ensure that decent law-abiding citizens and employers would be committing a criminal offence if an individual's "spent" conviction was used to mitigate against them in a competitive situation, placing those with a criminal conviction in a "victim" category similar to instances of discrimination on the grounds of disability or gender. A "hard line" should be pursued against employers who flout the rules.
What happened to a sense of balance? What happened to a justice system that concentrates on the rights of the many to be protected from the predations of those who would do them harm? Just because a criminal is caught and is smart enough not to repeat the mistake, does this give him the right to be treated as if nothing ever happened?
If what is presented is a true indication of the mindset of those who dictate policy in the criminal justice system then they collectively need to stop their introverted navel-gazing and get out and seek the opinion of those who pay their wages rather than fostering the case of those who keep them in a job.
David J Crawford,
Flat 3/3 131 Shuna Street, Glasgow.
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