See www.lobbying.scot St Andrew’s House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG www.gov.scot ANNEX – FURTHER DETAILS OF SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT AMENDMENTS Part 1 - Victims and Witnesses Commissioner for Scotland Definition of a victim This amendment substitutes the existing definition of “victim” which applies for the purposes of Part 1, contained in section 23 of the Bill, with a new expanded definition. The revised definition includes: • persons who have suffered harm as a direct result of having seen, heard, or otherwise directly experienced the effects of an offence or harmful behaviour by a child at the time the offence or harmful behaviour occurred • all persons who have rights to receive information under the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS), under exception of supporters and nominated individuals • those relatives who have rights to information in relation to criminal proceedings and are included in the Standards of Service under the 2014 Act It does not include ‘supporters’ or ‘nominated individuals’ under the VNS within the definition of victim, but these groups will fall under the VWC’s functions.