Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill: FOI release

Information requested

1) When the decision was made to rename the Criminal Justice Reform Bill to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill which was the title of the Bill upon publication, who the decision was made by and any emails, letters, minutes, documents, authorisations or other information related to the making of that decision. Please provide any information falling between the dates of 6 September 2022 and 25 April 2022.

For reference, the 2022-23 Programme for Government stated that the tile of the Bill would be the Criminal Justice Reform Bill.

A Stronger & More Resilient Scotland: The Programme for Government 2022‑23 (www.gov.scot)

2) Which organisations were sent the final draft of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, when they were sent it and all the responses received by the Scottish Government from those organisations. Please provide a list of all organisations sent the final draft of the Bill and any responses that were sent by those organisations. Please provide any relevant information from 1 February 2023 to the present date.

Response

Part 1:

I have noted your request seeks information between the dates of 6 September 2022 and 25 April 2022. I have assumed that the latter date is a typographical error and should read 25 April 2023. As such, this response relates to information falling between the dates 6 September 2022 and 25 April2023.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 36 of Freedom Of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOI(S)A) applies to some of the information requested because it is legal advice and disclosure would breach legal professional privilege.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open and transparent government, and to inform public debate. However, this is outweighed by the strong public interest in maintaining the right to confidentiality of communications between legal advisers and clients, to ensure that Ministers and officials are able to receive legal advice in confidence, like any other public or private organisation.

The information that can be released is contained in the annex to this response. Any redactions that are not otherwise stated are made under section 38(1)(b) of the FOI(S)A – personal information.

As contained in document 7 of the annex, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans confirmed he was content with the title Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill on 8 March 2023.

I have included some further information below that may also assist with your request.

The following publications contain information about and the rules relating to Bill names:

• Bill handbook - procedure guide for Scottish Parliament bills (www.gov.scot) (see pages 59 to 61).
• Guidance on Public Bills (parliament.scot) (see page 116)
• Drafting Matters! Second Edition (www.gov.scot) (see pages 16 to 19)

As described in the Bill Handbook, a Bill may have a working title, as was the case with the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill and the name ‘Criminal Justice Reform Bill’.

As set out in the Programme for Government publication that you have referenced in your request, the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill was included under the working title ‘Criminal Justice Reform Bill’ and was described as doing the following:

“The Bill will progress the ambition and priorities set out in the Vision for Justice in Scotland of delivering person centred and trauma informed practices, including taking greater action to improve the experience of women and children and to hear victims’ voices. The Bill will abolish the not proven verdict in criminal trials in Scotland and take forward any accompanying reforms. It will also deliver legislative reforms building on the recommendations of Lady Dorrian’s Review on Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases, including, amongst a range of proposals, protection of the anonymity of complainers of sexual crimes under Scots law.”

As set out in the ‘Consultation’ section of the Policy Memorandum for the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill (see pages 13 to 15 of Policy Memorandum accessible (parliament.scot) two public consultations were used to inform the content of the Bill, namely one that considered the not proven verdict and related reforms (which ran from 13 December 2021 to 11 March 2022); and another that explored ways of improving victims’ experiences of the justice system, (which ran from 12 May 2022 to 19 August 2022). The Policy Memorandum explains that the Bill was also informed as by the work of the Victims’ Taskforce and findings of Lady Dorrian’s Review on Improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases.

I hope that this information, in addition to the information in the annex, provides background to the title for the Bill and assists with your request.

Part 2:

The only organisation, other than the Scottish Parliament, that was sent a final draft of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill was the Office of the Advocate General (OAG). A copy of the final draft Bill was sent to the OAG at the same time as it was sent to the Scottish Parliament. This is in accordance with an agreed protocol with OAG for the sharing of all draft Bills prior to introduction.

We are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section 36 of Freedom Of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 applies because it is legal advice and disclosure would breach legal professional privilege.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202300375254 - Information released - Annex

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