- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 15 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the disparity between the time taken for rape and attempted rape cases to reach trial in instances where the accused is (a) on bail and (b) remanded in custody.
Answer
Decisions on the scheduling of individual criminal cases are a matter for the independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. It is important that delays in the criminal justice system are minimised insofar as possible and statutory time limits exist to prevent unnecessary delays in criminal cases coming to trial and help the judiciary to effectively manage the progress of cases. This is particularly important in trials for offences of rape, serious sexual assault and domestic abuse where delays can impact on complainers.
Different time limits apply depending on whether an accused is in custody or in the community and prioritise cases where an accused person has been remanded in custody prior to trial, recognising the particularly importance of minimising the length of time which an accused person who has not been convicted of a criminal offence spends in custody prior to their trial.
Section 65(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (the 1995 Act) provides that in any case where an indictment has been served on a person, the trial must commence within 12 months. A stricter time limit applies where the accused has been remanded in custody prior to trial. Section 65(4) of the 1995 Act provides that where an accused has been remanded in custody prior to trial, the trial must commence within 140 days failing which the accused shall be released on bail. These time limits can all be extended by the court on a case-by-case basis. These time-limits apply to all cases and are not specific to rape or sexual offence cases.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 15 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether cases involving an accused remanded in custody are routinely prioritised for trial ahead of otherwise comparable cases where the accused is on bail, and what assessment it has made of any impact this has on the waiting time for complainers in serious sexual offence cases.
Answer
As set out in my answer to question S7W-02908 on 15 September 2026, while decisions on the scheduling of individual criminal cases are a matter for the independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, the long-standing statutory time limits at section 65 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 require the prioritisation of cases where an accused person has been remanded in custody prior to trial. This approach relates to an accused person having the presumption of innocence and the importance of seeking to minimise the length of time they are held in custody prior to trial.
It is important that delays in the criminal justice system are minimised insofar as possible and the statutory time limits exist to prevent unnecessary delays in criminal cases coming to trial and help the judiciary to effectively manage the progress of cases. This is particularly important in trials for offences of rape, serious sexual assault and domestic abuse where delays can impact on complainers.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 15 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered introducing a mechanism for serious sexual offence cases involving an accused individual on bail to receive earlier trial dates where the case has already been subject to a prolonged period of delay, and if not, for what reason.
Answer
Management of the progress of criminal cases is an independent matter for Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and the judiciary. In individual cases, effective judicial management of the progress of a criminal case is an important element of the role of the judiciary. Where trial dates are sought to be moved by either the prosecution or the defence, the judiciary will consider carefully whether a move of date is in the interests of justice. The length of time a case waited for trial and the number of times a trial may have been moved back are relevant factors the judiciary will consider in any request to move a trial date. The judiciary must ensure the overall fairness of a trial when making decisions about moving trial dates and the Scottish Government has no direct role in such decisions.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 11 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many rape and attempted rape cases proceeded to trial where the accused was (a) on bail and (b) remanded in custody, and what the median time was from first appearance to trial in each category, in each of the last five years.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 11 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether accused individuals on bail in rape and attempted rape cases wait longer for trial than those remanded in custody, and, if so, by how many days on average.
Answer
Statistics on justice journey times are published in the Journey Times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System bulletin and accompanying dashboard:
Criminal justice: journey time statistics.
The publication includes information on the time taken for accused individuals to progress through different stages of the criminal justice system, including cases involving rape and attempted rape.
However, we do not hold data on whether an accused person was on bail or remanded in custody, nor do we hold the information required to identify which cases proceeded to an evidence-led trial. Consequently, we are unable to provide times to trial for accused individuals by bail status or assess whether waiting times differ between those on bail and those remanded in custody.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 11 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many rape and serious sexual offence cases are currently awaiting trial while the accused is on bail.
Answer
This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 11 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are operated by the Scottish Government, its agencies and public bodies, excluding those operated by Police Scotland.
Answer
Traffic Scotland is a service provided by Transport Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national transport agency. Traffic Scotland collects and distributes real-time traffic and travel information for the entire Scottish trunk road and motorway network. Traffic Scotland previously used ANPR camera technology to provide journey time information across the trunk road network until 2022. This service is now provided by a third party data source and there are no operational ANPR cameras used in the delivery of the Traffic Scotland service.
Police Scotland use ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology to help detect, deter and disrupt criminal activity at a local, force, regional and national level. This includes travelling criminals (those using the road network to avoid being caught), organised crime groups and terrorists.
ANPR provides lines of enquiry and evidence in the investigation of crime and is used by forces throughout Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A record for all vehicles passing by a camera is stored, including those for vehicles that are not known to be of interest at the time of the read. At present ANPR cameras nationally, submit on average around 60 million ANPR read records to national ANPR systems daily.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2026
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on ensuring that families, particularly those in rural areas, have choice and flexibility in accessing childcare services
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 17 September 2026
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 8 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered reducing the period for which Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data relating to vehicles that are not of interest is retained.
Answer
There is no single and specific retention period for road traffic offence data held by Police Scotland. Retention depends on the type of offence and the policing purpose. Police Scotland applies their formal Records Retention Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), with crime and offence records retained according to risk-based retention rules.
- Asked by: Yi-pei Chou Turvey, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 8 September 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether its strategy for tackling violence against women and girls considers the potential misuse of police surveillance technologies, including Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), to facilitate stalking or coercive control.
Answer
Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls (VAWG), recognises that technology can be used to directly track, monitor, and facilitate violence against women and girls. While Equally Safe does not refer specifically to Automatic Number Plate Recognition, it acknowledges the wider risks associated with the misuse of technology and recognises that action to address VAWG must take account of these evolving risks.
