- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 January 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 25 January 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the 37% of recorded incidents of domestic abuse in 1999-2000 referred to the Procurator Fiscal's Office were subsequently referred to diversion from prosecution schemes and on what grounds any such referrals were made.
Answer
"Domestic abuse" may be constituted by several offences. Records relating to those offences do not distinguish those which fall into the domestic abuse category. The information is, accordingly, not available.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 20 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to review legislation and procedures with a view to improving the conviction rate for rape.
Answer
We are currently legislating through the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Bill to provide greater protection for victims of rape and sexual assault when they give evidence in court. We also keep the criminal law under review. The Lord Advocate has made a reference to the High Court seeking clarification of the law on rape, following the ruling in the Lord Abernethy rape case. We need to await the outcome of this reference before we are in a position to consider whether changes may be required in this area.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 16,356 fiscal fines in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.
Answer
The figures are not broken down by crime and the information is accordingly not available.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 45,475 no proceedings in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.
Answer
The figures are not broken down by crime and the information is accordingly not available.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by (a) crime and (b) offence of the 18,275 fiscal warnings in 2000, as referred to in chart 2 of Criminal proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2000.
Answer
The figures are not broken down by crime and the information is accordingly not available.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 29 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Colin Boyd on 18 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many no proceedings have taken place in the criminal justice system in each the past 10 years, broken down by crime/offence.
Answer
Overall numbers of cases marked "no proceedings" are published in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Annual Reports and (for the last five years) included in the Services' Submission to the Justice 2 Committee. They are not, however, broken down by crime and that information is not available.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how many exclusion orders were (a) applied for and (b) granted in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer
No figures are collected centrally for exclusion orders under either Part II of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 or section 4 of the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection)(Scotland) Act 1981.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether any issues have been identified that prevent exclusion orders from being applied for.
Answer
The Executive has identified a number of problems with exclusion orders and matrimonial interdicts under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981, and these are referred to in the white paper Parents and Children. Some have been addressed by the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001, and others will be dealt with in the forthcoming draft Family Law Bill. The National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland has set up a working group to review existing legislation relating to domestic abuse, and this is expected to complete its work next year.Research on the effectiveness of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is on-going and research work on exclusion orders has been identified as a priority for 2002-03. The Multi Disciplinary Review of Child Protection which is currently under way will include consideration of Exclusion Orders where they have been used in the cases the team will be auditing.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive how often domestic violence and/or child sexual abuse was cited in contact disputes in the last year for which figures are available.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Gil Paterson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 23 November 2001
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Wallace on 17 December 2001
To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to review the use of exclusion orders.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20362.
