Current status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 13 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether sheriffs, judges and legal practitioners working in the civil system have undergone specialist training on domestic abuse, coercive control and the potential impact on children’s lives.
The education and training of the Scottish judiciary is the responsibility of the Lord President, who established the Judicial Institute for Scotland (the Institute) to conduct training for all sheriffs and judges in Scotland.
The Scottish Government’s understanding is that consideration of domestic abuse has been an ongoing component of the Institute’s training since 2019. In response to the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 the Institute launched a learning programme for all judicial office holders at that time. This training included a Domestic Abuse Resource Kit, which has been extended to cover the implications of domestic abuse in civil cases and the interaction between criminal and civil cases.
Domestic abuse training has also been implemented into induction courses since 2019, ensuring that all those coming into post receive similar training, particularly covering the concept of coercive control in the context of domestic abuse. In addition, family and civil law courses consider the impact of coercive control and other forms of abusive behaviour in family disputes.
The Institute’s annual reports can be found on the Judiciary of Scotland website.
Solicitors in Scotland have to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) relevant to their roles in line with the Law Society of Scotland's CPD requirements. Training on domestic abuse is available and revisited regularly, for example, the recent webinar on: A Review of Domestic Abuse in Scotland | Law Society of Scotland.
However, there is no specific requirement for solicitors working in the civil system to undergo specialist training in domestic abuse, coercive control and the potential impact on children’s lives.