Chamber and committees

That cannot happen today, but it might in the fullness of time, if the PNBS finds that any of those matters are in some way having an effect on its substantive business.

I am going to be dead direct. My view, here and now, is that we have addressed those matters. Nothing that is being raised would prevent the passing of the regulations. Some of the issues will be matters for the guide that will be developed in consultation with all PNBS members. Some of them are much more about the PNBS’s day-to-day working. The constitution does not need to say that non-members can make representations to a sub-committee or the main PNBS.

It is my understanding that past experience always informs future negotiations over matters in and around such important agreements.

It will be for the UK Government to meet the costs that are incurred by Glasgow City Council and Police Scotland. The Home Office has been very clear on that. We are still some distance away from the general assembly. We are looking at November next year, so much of the work on estimating costs will continue. Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council are confident that the plans that they have in place are appropriate, but there will continue to be very close dialogue between the Scottish Government, the UK Government and, of course, our partners in Glasgow.

As my speaking note and the policy memorandum indicate, the order has two functions. One is to enable Glasgow to host the general assembly of Interpol, so there is very specific consideration given to the operational needs of Interpol with respect to those functions. The other purpose to the order is that it is particularly important post-Brexit to ensure that the United Kingdom can continue to collaborate with Interpol, given its importance as an international forum of co-operation in law enforcement.

There is no end date to the order, and it is for either party—Interpol or the United Kingdom—to terminate it. It is a necessary order for the specific function of the general assembly and the individuals who will attend the general assembly. Its broader function relates to what the UK Government has negotiated in the agreement to secure an on-going relationship with Interpol, and it is in all our interests for the UK to continue to engage with Interpol.

I am grateful to Mr Greene for raising those matters. It is, of course, a great opportunity for the city of Glasgow. It is a prestigious international event. It is not as big as the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties—COP26—as it will be on a smaller scale and will not last for the same duration. It will have fewer delegates than visited Glasgow during COP26. Nonetheless, it is a great opportunity for the city to show that it is well able to host such events.

I will re-read the pivotal sentence in my statement: there is an exception to immunity in respect of road traffic accidents. I think that that is very clear. I do not know whether officials wish to add anything, but the fact of the matter is that there is an exception to immunity.

Good morning, convener, and thank you. The draft International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2023 confers various legal immunities and privileges on the International Criminal Police Organization, which is more commonly known as Interpol, and specified categories of people who are connected to Interpol so far as it is within the devolved competence of this Parliament. The United Kingdom Government has negotiated a privileges and immunities agreement with Interpol to provide it with the privileges and immunities that are necessary for it to function effectively in the UK and to enable Glasgow to host the 2024 Interpol general assembly, for which granting privileges and immunities is a prerequisite.

The agreement regulates the privileges and immunities that are afforded to Interpol, such as certain tax exemptions and immunity under certain conditions from legal process. The agreement obliges the United Kingdom to abide by the terms of the agreement. The order before the committee today fulfils those obligations in so far as they relate to devolved matters in Scotland. Equivalent provision in respect of reserved matters and devolved matters in the rest of the UK is being conferred by legislation at Westminster. However, to the extent that privileges and immunities relate to devolved matters in Scotland, conferral rightly falls to the Scottish Parliament. When respective parliamentary passage is complete, both orders will go before the Privy Council in July.

To assist the committee, I will say a little bit more about the nature of the privileges and immunities that are involved. The immunities cover things that are done or omitted to be done by members of Interpol only while exercising their official functions in connection with Interpol and the general assembly. There is an exception to the immunity in respect of road traffic accidents. All persons enjoying privileges and immunities are expected to respect the laws and regulations that are in force in the UK, and the secretary general of Interpol must co-operate at all times with the appropriate UK authorities to prevent any abuse of the privileges and immunities. The order also provides for the inviolability of any private residence of the secretary general, exemption and privileges in respect of personal baggage, and exemption or relief from all devolved and local taxes.

It is customary to grant such privileges and immunities to diplomatic missions and international organisations to enable them to function. The agreement is broadly in line with global practice and includes provisions to ensure that immunities and privileges do not impede the proper administration of justice. The privileges and immunities that are conferred by the draft order are granted primarily on the basis of strict functional need. They are no greater in extent than those that are required to enable Interpol and specified individuals connected with Interpol to function effectively. The immunity does not apply to a person who is a British citizen or any person who at the time of taking up his or her functions is a permanent resident of the United Kingdom.

Immunities and privileges are, therefore, limited in that they apply only to official functions and can be waived. The immunity is analogous to but more limited than the immunity that has been for generations conferred on diplomats working in foreign jurisdictions. As with diplomatic immunity, all individuals benefiting from privileges and immunities in Scotland are expected to respect Scots law, both criminal and civil.

The draft order implements the agreement that the UK has reached with Interpol in line with global practice. It enables Interpol to hold the general assembly in Glasgow and conduct its activities in the UK, while ensuring and upholding protections for the effective administration of justice. As a good global citizen, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government to bring the order to the Parliament for consideration. I commend the order to the committee.

It is broadly similar.

I accept the point that we need to monitor all of this going forward, but bodies such as the drug deaths task force made recommendations, which were accepted by the Government, and it looked at a range of evidence on the impact on communities. I think that we are all agreed on the impact of release on a Friday. However, in a very practical sense, we need to avoid the displacement from a Friday to a Thursday, so that we are not just moving one set of problems to another day of the week. It is a way of spreading the load over four days.

Does Mr Findlay agree that there is a clear distinction between planning for someone’s release—there must be victim support input into the plans that are made—and the management of offenders and the delivery of services to manage offenders? No one wants to silence victims, and they have to be involved in the end-to-end justice journey, but we need to be clear that we are not expecting victims or victim support organisations to be involved in the management of offenders or the delivery of those management plans, because those things clearly rest with other agencies.

I certainly hope that what I have put on record today will be of some comfort. I assure Mr Greene and the victim support organisations that dialogue will absolutely continue between now and stage 3. There is a commitment to work inclusively with everyone to get all the detail right, and I hope that what I have put on record today will take us at least a bit further forward.