Sexual Offences

A consultation on "improving victims’ experiences of the justice system", with a particular focus on sexual offences, has opened. It takes forward the work of the Victims Taskforce and Programme for government commitments to: establish a Victims’ Commissioner, introduce a statutory right

New research carried out on behalf of the Scottish Sentencing Council has found a lack of awareness over the offences created by the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and suggests the public should be engaged on the range and scope of sexual offences. The independently conducted research

Supplementary experimental prison population statistics covering the period 2009-10 to 2019-20 have been published by Scotland’s chief statistician. The data indicate that the overall average daily prison population fluctuated over the 10 years to 2019-20. Between 2009-10 and 2011-12, there wa

An Edinburgh academic has proposed a novel framework for establishing when deceptive sex should be considered to have crossed the threshold of criminality. In a new paper, Dr Chloë Kennedy of Edinburgh Law School proposes the use of an "identity nonrecognition" framework, centring the role that

The Equality and Human Rights Commission in Scotland has published new research into how sexual history and bad character evidence is used in sexual offences trials. The findings have led to a call by the commission for an urgent review on how courts and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Servic

New data recorded by Police Scotland shows an increase in sexual offences towards children over the past five years. The figures reveal that last year an average of 15 child sexual offences were recorded every day in Scotland. Across the UK there were 73,518 recorded offences in 2019/20. Where age a

Lawyers have said there is a case for complainers in sexual offences cases to be given their own legal representation when applications are made to lead evidence of bad character or sexual history so they can make submissions on whether such an application should be granted in order to prevent "re-v

There has been a drop in crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, according to Scotland's chief statistician. In figures released today that analyse the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, a 13 per cent drop in domestic abuse crimes was reported as compared with April

A bill providing for the healthcare needs of alleged victims of rape and sexual offences is to be considered by the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee. The bill would allow alleged victims over the age of 16 to ‘self-refer’ themselves to NHS facilities for forensic me

Scotland is considering the creation of a dedicated sexual offences court, a judge has said. Lord Matthews said in a speech at the Third International Advocacy Conference in Nottingham that a judge-led sexual offences review group is considering the measure.

A girl who told judges she lied about allegations that resulted in her grandfather being convicted and jailed for sexually abusing her has had her plea for him to be released rejected. The man, 68, must continue to serve his 12-year sentence even though the girl, known as M, said she lied at trial,

A judge in the Court of Appeal has said it "beggars belief" that a woman would falsely claim to have been raped and sexually assaulted 15 times in order to claim victim compensation, as her appeal against conviction was rejected. Jemma Beale, 27, was described as a "serial liar" who in part made up

A senior criminal practitioner will be a Faculty representative on a new panel looking at the way sexual offence cases are dealt with in the courts. Frances McMenamin QC has been confirmed as a member of the review group, chaired by Lady Dorrian, the Lord Justice Clerk.

A judge-led review group is to consider what distinguishes sexual assault cases from other criminal cases and how court process and the experiences of complainers and witnesses can be improved – without compromising the rights of the accused. The review group, chaired by Lady Dorrian, the Lord