Clarification that coercion is still considered a crime in Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

Can you tell me is coercion still considered a crime in Scotland?

Or does a pandemic allow a slight bending of the rules on this for example like human rights.

Response

The answer to your question is that there has been no change to the criminal law concerning coercion during the coronavirus pandemic. By way of background, I should explain that there is no specific offence of coercion in Scots law, but there are a number of different criminal offences which can be used to prosecute coercive behaviour, depending on the facts and circumstances of the particular case. These include, for example, the offence of 'abuse of a partner or ex-partner' at section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 where the coercive behaviour amounts to a course of abusive behaviour committed against a partner or ex-partner, the offence of 'threatening or abusive behaviour' at section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 and the common law offence of threats.

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