Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018: interim reporting requirement

Annex 2: The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 Reporting Requirement

14 Reporting requirement

(1)The Scottish Ministers must prepare a report on the use of, during the reporting period—

(a)an offence under section 1(1),

(b)an offence that is aggravated as described in section 1(1)(a) of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016.

(2)The report must set out, in relation to those sorts of offences—

(a)the number of cases for which criminal proceedings are undertaken,

(b)the number of cases where it has been—

(i)specified in the complaint or libelled in the indictment that the offence is aggravated by reason of involving a child as described in section 5(1)(a),

(ii)proved that the offence is so aggravated,

(c)the number of convictions in criminal proceedings,

(d)the number of cases in which a non-harassment order has been made under section 234AZA of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (non-harassment orders: domestic abuse cases) in favour of—

(i)a victim,

(ii)a child by virtue of subsection (3) of that section,

(e)the average length of time—

(i)from service of the complaint or indictment,

(ii)to finding or verdict as to guilt (including plea of guilty),

(f)information about the experience of witnesses (including witnesses who are children) at court,

(g)such additional information as the Scottish Ministers think fit.

(3)The report must, in relation to those sorts of offences—

(a)include distinct statistics for each of them,

(b)provide details with respect to particular—

(i)areas,

(ii)types of court.

(4)For the purpose of the report, the Scottish Ministers must seek information from the Lord President of the Court of Session on how court business is arranged, including in different areas or types of court, so as to ensure the efficient disposal of cases involving those sorts of offences.

(5)The report must be laid before the Scottish Parliament as soon as practicable after the end of the reporting period.

(6)The reporting period is the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which section 1(1) comes into force.

A full description of the Act is available online: Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018