Adults with dementia or chronic illnesses will be given new protections to prevent their mistreatment.

The legislation is planned for September, according to The Times, and would make Scotland the first part of the UK to legislate specifically on abuse of the elderly.

Campaigners are seeking more prosections for complaints about elderly abuse and argue that too few cases are resulting in prison terms.

Elder Abuse Scotland, Age Scotland, the Law Society of Scotland, and Social Work Scotland all support the proposals.

Social Work Scotland said in a submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee: “The legal system has challenges in providing protection and justice where the investigation and prosecution processes fail people whose reliability as witnesses may be questioned, for example, frail older people and adults affected by dementia.”

The results of a hate crime review undertaken by Lord Bracadale last year found that there should be new statutory aggravations in relation to gender and age as protected characteristics.

Margaret Mitchell, convener of the Justice Committee, said: “Safeguards to stop elder abuse occurring in the first place [are] clearly very important. When this abuse does happen, it is vital that perpetrators face tough consequences.”