… and other less busy ones in Scotland.
Author: Kuba Hiterski Photo: Jane McPhelim
Continued from part 4 (You can also find the whole article on our blog here).
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9) Immigration and the Scottish Government Policy. The real threat to the Scottish society in a form of unjust legal system lies in political dynamics.
More than the threat of new technology snatching the job away from me I am concerned about the global rise of nationalism, bigotry and xenophobia. Although Scotland as a whole is still a very open society which I know from both personal experience and mere observation (take the result of the Brexit referendum for that matter), I fear spillover effects of new POTUS administration policies (both domestic and foreign) as well as perpetual EU crisis, from Brexit to Syrian refugees, might cast in the coming years a heavy cloud over bonnie Scotland and its beacon of hope that it generously gives to people who share the same values.
I should add that as a foreigner I am naturally biased on this yet another sensitive issue and the only way of proving my views would be to leave Scotland at one point and return sometime later, which at present would be very difficult for me do. Worse still my homeland, Poland has recently shifted towards more selfish and nationalistic course. We have seen similar developments over the past years in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and to some extent in France (bear in mind last presidential elections). I guess this may also happen at some point in here.
I would like to stress that the ramifications of turning away from an open, progressive and tolerant society in the context of court interpreting (and more broadly public service interpreting) would not affect me personally in an economic sense (since over the last two years my income from working in the private sector has doubled and I intend to continue being predominantly focused on that in the future) but rather, and this is my strong, personal belief, they would adversely affect the Scottish Justice System as a whole. Scotland already has one of the largest prison populations per capita in Western Europe (right after England and Wales, see pages 47-49 of the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics (2017). If we add the difficulties associated with immigration the problem becomes even more complex.
It is estimated that more than 13,000 foreign criminals are awaiting deportation from the UK of which nearly half (almost 6000) were living in the communities. Moreover, in the last ten years the number of foreign nationals in prison has doubled and now represents over 14% of the total prison population in England and Wales (source: UK Ministry of Justice). This trend is largely attributed to the influx of migrants from Eastern Europe. Finally, the costs of the increased number of EU prisoners is estimated to be approx £147 milion.
Even though the above trends are now believed to be in decline, these figures must shock many. Let us, however, consider the following. Foreign citizens make up about 9% of the general population in England and Wales – around 5.2 million people were citizens of another country in 2015, which means that foreign convicts make up approx. 0,2% of all migrants living in England and Wales (compared to 0,14% incarceration rate among all UK residents). Also, between 2002 and 2015, the total number of migrants has gone up from 516 000 to 650 000, whilst the net migration has increased from 172 000 to 335 000 (more recently the latter fell to 246 000 – for more detailed interactive overview of UK long-term migration click here).
Furthermore, it is estimated that immigration has overall a positive net impact on the UK. Although the evidence suggests that the fiscal impact of migration in the UK is small (less than +/-1% of GDP) and differs by migrant group (e.g. EEA migrants vs non-EEA migrants, recent migrants vs all migrants), immigrants from Poland and the other, mostly Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 have contributed almost £5 billion more to the UK’s economy than they used in benefits and public services (Source: University College London Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration) or according to another source paid £1.34 in taxes for every £1 they received in state assistance (although there is mixed evidence for the latter). Having said that, do the number of foreign convicts still appear so rebuking? If we turn away from current best practice and limit access to justice via interpreting service for both the accused and witnesses, the safety of all people living in Scotland will be at an increased risk of new crimes which we now have the power to prevent.
TBC