Hillhead Review

UofG legal experts lead review into the admissibility of character and sexual history in sexual offence case hearings in Scotland. 

Professor James Chalmers, Professor Jacqui Kinghan, Professor Fiona Leverick, and Mr Eamon Keane from the UofG School of Law have led a review into the delivery of Independent Legal Representation (ILR) for complainers at sexual offences hearings.

ILR is said to refer to “in-court legal representation” in relation to a part of the criminal process, where the complainer is recognised as a party to proceedings.

This research has been requested by the Scottish Government to improve trauma-informed services and to avoid the risk of re-traumatisation during trial and explore how ILR could best be used.

Eamon Keane, who led the research at the School of Law, said: “The issue of how best to support complainers in sexual offence cases is a concern for policymakers Worldwide.

“One way of doing this is by providing ILR, which we know has the potential to make a real difference to complainers. Evidence strongly suggests that it can give complainers a sense of agency that they otherwise lack, even where the legal outcome is not the one that they desired. As one interviewee put it, ILR can make “[the complainer’s] experience of one particular part of one particular flawed system a bit more bearable”.

The research identified that when designing an ILR service for complainers in sexual offence cases a salaried model, where a cohort of lawyers would be employed to provide the service in a third sector organisation, would be most effective. The research highlighted that complainers must have freedom to instruct their own legal representative if they so wish.

The Law School team have been recognised internationally for their expertise in criminal law and access to justice. Their handling of the controversial character and sexual history evidence admissibility shows increasing progress in legislation with the continued revisions to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill which provides a system of ILR for complainers in sexual offence cases where an application is made to admit evidence of their character or sexual history under section 275 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

Tutors from the University of Glasgow will be working in classrooms across Scotland

The University of Glasgow, along with Queen Margaret University, will provide extra tutoring support to almost 500 pupils, focusing on those most affected by poverty.

The initiative was launched in 2020, to support pupils whose education was most disrupted by Covid-19 school closures; when classrooms shut and most learning was done on screens and zoom meeting rooms.

Tutors from the University of Glasgow have continued to support students through one-on-one teaching to reverse the effects of classrooms shutting down in 2020 and continue young students on the path of further education – whether that is at university or vocational training.

One-on-one classes are proven to drive confidence in pupils and better prepare them for anything, from interviews to seminar classes. Allowing students who otherwise would have never had this experience, to get better acquainted with the realities of further educational situations.

The success of the programme has led to £90,000 of funding from the Scottish Government initiative being extended to a wider group of young people. The announcement comes as a new survey, the Attainment Scotland Fund Evaluation, found that out of almost a thousand school staff, three-quarters felt the poverty-related attainment gap has narrowed due to the efforts of the Scottish Government’s flagship Scottish Attainment Challenge. 

Machine learning allows outdated robots to be recycled and used to combat loneliness.

The system, called Augmenting Zoomorphic Robotics with Affect (AZRA), aims to address the shortcomings of the current generation of robots, which often have very limited options for interactivity.These AZRA-based systems could enable older robot pets, and even previously non-interactive toys like plush dolls, to provide experiences which are much closer to those provided by real animal companions. 

The system would also allow for otherwise landfill to be reused with greater satisfaction than before. Saving plastic from the landfill, while allowing people to grow connections and escape loneliness with animal-like robots when real animals are out of the question for reasons of health, cost or restrictions on rental properties.

Research indicates that, “When users of the AZRA system wear augmented reality devices like Meta’s Quest headset around their robot pets and toys, it projects a sophisticated overlay of virtual facial expressions, light, sound and thought bubbles onto the toy’s surfaces and surroundings.”

Dr Shaun Macdonald, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science, is the paper’s lead author and led the development of AZRA. “I was a bit disappointed to realise that, despite all the major developments in technology over the last 25 years, zoomorphic robots haven’t developed much at all since I was a child. It’s all but impossible to build a relationship with a robot pet in the way you might with a real animal, because they have so few behaviours and they become over-familiar very quickly.

“As a researcher in human-computer interaction, I started to wonder whether I could build a system which could overlay much more complex behaviours and interactions on the toy using augmented reality. Being able to imbue older robots and pets with new life could also help reduce the carbon footprint of unwanted devices by keeping them from landfill for longer.”

This robot recycling initiative could decrease loneliness in those who are not able to have real animals in cities, laying the groundwork for more advanced machine learning and augmented reality research.

Report finds greater alignment needed between policy designers and real-life implications. 

A Ukrainian Resettlement in Scotland Report, carried out by the University’s Dr Dan Fisher, found that greater alignment should be considered between government departments designing policy and those responsible for implementing it. 

The Homes for Ukraine and Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme in Scotland were two governmental schemes implemented just 32 days into the conflict that began in February 2022 when Russian forces crossed the border and began an illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Dr Dan Fisher, of the UofG’s Centre for Public Policy, during his SPICe Academic Fellowship, highlights need for better means of sharing information with the UK Government, the Scottish Government and Local Authorities about Ukrainian visa applications and case files following their arrival in the UK.

The report points to closer collaboration between national and local governments as an important lesson for strengthening refugee support. For the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, deeper coordination could ensure communities better understand the requirements of sponsorship and feel more supported in the process. Similarly, Scotland’s experience with the Super Sponsor Scheme shows that stronger partnership working could help prevent bottlenecks in Welcome Accommodation, making it easier for families to move into long-term housing while continuing their education and employment in local communities.

Professor Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy, said: “This is an excellent report that highlights the importance of intergovernmental collaboration, not just in times of crisis.”

This report highlights the need for a continuing effort from the government and involved local authorities on the continuing collaboration to improve the lives of reallocated Ukrainian individuals. It shows accountability and a strive to correct shortcoming, allowing for a better refugee support system for the future.