Ending conversion practices in Scotland: consultation summary

Part 12: A New Civil Order Relating to Conversion Practices

Background

67. Evidence from survivors of conversion practices, as well as recommendations made by the EAG, suggest that there will be cases where the use of criminal law is not the most suitable course of action. The criminal law provides a response to a crime which has already taken place, rather than enabling preventative action.

68. Anecdotal evidence and research data highlights that conversion practices often take place in religious, family, and community settings. Victims may be reluctant to report those responsible to the police, or to give evidence during a criminal trial.

69. A civil order provides an avenue for conversion practices to be addressed and prevented, including in situations where the Police and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) do not consider criminal measures to be appropriate. However, Civil orders still require a formal legal process that provides sufficient protection for the person(s) to whom the order applies.

70. The law in Scotland provides for several individual and community protection orders which can be used to protect individuals and prevent harmful conduct in a range of different situations. However, none of these existing civil orders fully address the problem of conversion practices, nor are they designed to.

71. An important feature of the proposed civil orders in relation to conversion practices is their ability to protect specific individuals from an identified risk of harm of conversion practices in a tailored and individualised way.

72. We have also identified value in providing for the civil order to be able to address harm caused by individuals or institutions that conduct conversion practices on a wider scale. In this case there may not be a specific, named victim.

Summary of proposal

73. Our proposal is to introduce a civil order with the following uses:

• to protect a specific victim from the harm cause by an individual
• to protect the wider community from the harmful conduct of an individual or organisation. For example, an individual that has previously caused harm to multiple people as a result of conversion practices.