A landmark Bill to place victims and witnesses at the heart of
the justice system has been passed by Parliament.
The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill
contains historic reforms to transform victims' and witnesses'
experience of the justice system and ensure they are treated with
compassion, while continuing to safeguard the rights of the
accused.
Key reforms include abolishing the ‘not proven' verdict in all
criminal trials to help create a clearer, fairer and more
transparent decision-making process. The jury majority required
for a conviction will move from a simple majority to at least
two-thirds to ensure fairness and balance.
The Bill will see trauma-informed practice embedded across
the system to avoid victims being re-traumatised by the legal
process. It will improve the Victim Notification Scheme and
establish an independent Victims and Witnesses Commissioner for
Scotland to champion their rights.
The legislation also includes significant new measures to meet
the needs of survivors of sexual offences by:
- establishing a specialist Sexual Offences Court to enable
complainers to give their best evidence while minimising the
potential for re-traumatisation
- protecting the dignity of victims of sexual offences through
an automatic lifelong right of anonymity
- providing an automatic right to independent legal
representation for complainers in sexual offence cases when an
application is made in court to lead evidence of the complainer's
sexual history or character
- creating a legal right for victims in rape and serious sexual
offences cases to access transcripts of the court proceedings
free of charge.
Justice Secretary said:
“This historic legislation will put victims and witnesses at the
heart of a modern and fair justice system.
“By changing culture, process and practice across the system, it
will help to ensure victims are heard, supported, protected and
treated with compassion, while the rights of the accused will
continue to be safeguarded.
“This legislation, which builds on progress in recent years, has
been shaped by the voices of victims, survivors, their families
and support organisations, and it is testimony to their tireless
efforts to campaign for further improvement. I am grateful to
those who bravely shared their experiences to inform the
development of this legislation and pave a better, more
compassionate path for others.”
Background
The Victims, Witnesses, and
Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the
Scottish Parliament on 25 April 2023.
Amendments passed at Stage 2 and Stage 3 include measures to:
- strengthen protection for victims through reforms to Non
Harassment Orders and other protective orders
- require that the Parole Board for Scotland must consider the
safety and security of any victim and/or family members as part
of decisions on release, and when setting licence conditions must
consider whether an exclusion zone should be required as a
condition to protect the safety and security or wellbeing of a
victim and/or family members
- require that the Parole Board for Scotland must take into
account whether a prisoner has information about the disposal of
a victim's remains, but has not disclosed it, as part of release
decision-making
- extend the rights of victims to make statements to the court,
setting out how the crime has impacted them physically,
emotionally and financially
Following Royal Assent, the legislation will be implemented in
phases. More information will be available in due course.
