Victim Notification Scheme (VNS): independent review

Section 23: Victim notification across jurisdictions

We were made aware of a lack of process around victim notification where patients or prisoners may transfer to another jurisdiction, e.g., from England to Scotland or vice-versa, as well as other questions around notifying victims living outside the jurisdiction of the place of custody. The Scottish Prison Service has no locus once a prisoner is transferred out of its estate. (See Appendix H).

With regard to foreign national offenders, the Home Office has informed us that where victims of foreign national offenders approach them, they then liaise with GDPR colleagues and Home Office Legal Advisers regarding disclosure in order to be able to provide basic information. The Home Office may also contact individual Social Work teams or the Scottish Prison Service, depending on the stage of the case, but they have confirmed that no formal protocol or process, such as exists in England and Wales^[6], exists with regard to Scotland and it would be helpful to establish such.

Foreign national prisoners may also be transferred to Immigration Detention on completion of a penal sentence, pending their deportation from the UK. The Immigration Detention Estate is managed on a UK wide basis. In this case, notification is not covered by the current provisions of the VNS in Scotland; the victim would need to approach the Home Office regarding confirmation of the offender's removal from the UK. We also note that in England and Wales, a victim is entitled to notification if an offender is recommended for deportation by a court for an offence against that victim.

The Scottish Prison Service have advised us that if they were approached by the Home Office, they would not be in a position automatically to share information regarding registered victims because of data protection restrictions and there is no legislative provision to permit this. Currently their process is confined to sending the correspondence as in Appendix F. Whilst they are not aware of any such cases, they advised us that they could advise the victim of the Home Office's approach to the SPS for their contact details and seek consent from the victim to disclose them. We consider that notification arrangements should be formalised.

Recommendation 10. Transfers around UK and immigration cases. Section 23

We recommend that victim notification procedures for victims in Scotland regarding prisoners and patients who may be transferred around the United Kingdom be reviewed with a view to establishing appropriate protocols, supported by legislation if required. This review should also consider the notification of disclosable information concerning the deportation of foreign nationals.