Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not routinely release minutes of private meetings.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-02403 on 22 September 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

We have just concluded an initial engagement process facilitated through the industry leadership body, Scotland Food and Drink, to garner views on options for taking forward this commitment. We will now analyse their comments and consider the next steps, ensuring that our future approach is fully informed by the views of the industry.

Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime which causes devastating effects on victims and their families. The Scottish Government recognises that ensuring that women are able to access appropriate and timely legal advice to safeguard their interests and apply for protection of the civil law where necessary is vital. That is why we continue to invest in the Scottish Women’s Right Centre, which included £215,000 for the funding period 1 March 2015 – 30 September 2016, to ensure that women in Scotland affected by gender based violence have timely access to legal advice and representation in ways best suited to their circumstances.

Following the judgement in WF v Scottish Ministers [2016] CSOH 27, the Scottish Government has made a determination so that non-means tested legal aid is available to any person, including complainers in domestic abuse cases, whose sensitive records are potentially going to be disclosed in a criminal case. This is to ensure access to justice as the court considers whether disclosure is necessary.

It is the case that the introduction of non-means tested legal support has been considered previously by Parliament. This was in the context of consideration of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill in 2011. This Member’s Bill included at introduction provision for non-means tested legal aid for people seeking a civil protection order to protect against domestic abuse. Parliament took the view that such an approach did not represent the best use of scarce public resources. In particular, it was noted that such an approach would give rise to an inequality of arms argument which meant that non-means tested legal aid would likely also have to be granted to those defending an action. There was also questions raised about the domestic abuse cases being treated differently from other cases within the legal aid system and about how the proposal would work when a court action covers a domestic abuse civil protection order and other matters such as divorce, or contact and residence orders. In light of these concerns, Parliament decided to remove the relevant provisions at Stage two of the Bill process.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the experience of children and young people who come into contact with Scotland’s justice system.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service’s Evidence and Procedure Review made a compelling case for reform, particularly in relation to how child and vulnerable witnesses give evidence in criminal cases. As noted in our Programme for Government, the Scottish Government is working with key stakeholders across the justice system to examine and progress the necessary steps to enable the greater use of pre-recorded evidence, which has the potential to help children and other vulnerable witnesses to avoid the stress and anxiety of appearing in court.

Sheriffs Principal are responsible for court programmes (which include Domestic Abuse Courts) and under their legislative duty, they are tasked to ensuring the efficient disposal of business in their Sheriffdom. Scottish Ministers have no locus of control over decisions relating to court programmes.

More generally, we recognise that domestic abuse courts can play a valuable role as part of an overall effective court programming approach to dealing with domestic abuse cases. Specialist domestic abuse courts, clustering or fast tracking of these types of cases is happening at courts around the country.

The Scottish Government has provided an additional overall £2.4 million per year (2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18) to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. This additional funding is being used to ensure court waiting times for domestic abuse cases are reducing to eight to ten weeks during 2016-17 and onwards. We continue to engage with justice partners and the Sheriff Principal to assist in efforts to explore whether a new pilot domestic abuse court would be appropriate in Grampians and Highlands.

The Scottish Government will bring forward a Bill in year one of this Parliamentary session which will include a new domestic abuse offence. In discussion and engagement with relevant Scottish stakeholders, a number of views have been offered including on whether the new offence should only be focused on psychological abuse and coercive control (as the offence in the Serious Crime Act 2015 is), or whether the new offence should be wider, encompassing the whole range of abusive behaviour which can occur in a relationship. We will carefully consider these views before introducing the legislation as we are determined to develop that offence in line with the expectations and views of stakeholders.