KENNY MacAskill has called on his successor as justice secretary to scrap jail sentences of less than one year, claiming short-term stints in prison are unaffordable and pointless.
The lawyer and SNP stalwart, who held the justice brief between 2007 and 2014, backed a string of high-profile groups that have said a presumption against short sentences should be extended to 12 months in a move to lower reoffending rates, save cash and cut prisoner numbers.
He admitted that a current policy against jail terms of up to three months, which he pushed through controversially in 2010, had proved "pretty marginal" in reducing short-term sentences and is convinced more radical action should now be taken.
Mr MacAskill, the longest-serving justice secretary since devolution, said that the Scottish Government could extend the presumption to six months now while preparing social work departments and community justice authorities for an extension to 12 months.
The proposal, backed by the majority of expert individuals and organisations that have responded to a Scottish Government consultation, would see thousands of criminals who would otherwise be sent to jail serve community sentences instead.
The Edinburgh MSP said: "My view is we can go to six months immediately without any difficulty at all. Going beyond that may require additional resources but at least the direction of travel should be indicated and a timescale set to get to a year. We should get to six months then pretty soon thereafter ramp it up.
"I fully support the concept that nobody, except in exceptional circumstances, should go to jail for less than a year. I fully support the Howard League and the other groups that say one year is where we should be, which is the same as some other European nations.
"It comes back to principles and the question of what prison is for. It's there for those who are a danger to the community and need to be locked up or people who have done something so serious nothing else is appropriate."
The Scottish Government has indicated that it is preparing to extend the presumption against three-month sentences, although fears of appearing soft on crime mean a shift to six months is favoured by some insiders.
Mr MacAskill initially tried to bring in a presumption against sentences of up to six months during the SNP's 2007-2011 minority administration, but was forced to water down his proposals to get them passed by MSPs following claims the change would aid perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Analysis carried out by the Howard League for Penal Reform Scotland, which backs the move to 12 months, found that 36 of the 54 respondents to the consultation who had given permission for responses to be released supported a new presumption against sentences of up to one year.
Among those supporting the step, which would bring Scotland into line with countries such as Germany and Belgium which have far lower incarceration rates, are Sheriff Frank Crowe, a former director of judicial studies, and David Strang, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland. Advocates of reform believe short prison sentences are counterproductive as they do not allow time for meaningful rehabilitation but cause offenders to lose jobs, housing and relationships increasing their chances of committing further crimes.
Michael Matheson, who succeeded Mr MacAskill as justice secretary, told a Holyrood committee yesterday that an analysis of the responses would be published shortly.
He added: "If the presumption was to be increased then it will help to reduce the churn of those who get those short sort of six-month type sentences and the level of resource that that takes up within our prison system, which will free up that resource to be used much more effectively.
"It won't have a big impact on the global number within our prison system but it certainly will potentially have a significant impact on the churn that we have of short-term prison sentences and the range of that impact will be dependent upon the threshold at which we set the presumption."
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