New laws send criminal justice system into uncharted waters

The Law Society of Scotland has warned of significant risks for criminal justice after MSPs voted to approve untested changes to Scotland’s criminal court system.

The final vote on the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill concluded this afternoon, with 71 MSPs backing the legislation, 46 against and one abstention. It will now go for Royal Assent before implementation at a later date.

The legislation will mean significant changes to Scotland’s criminal justice system, including:

• Removing the Not proven verdict
• Moving to a two-thirds majority of 10 out of 15 jury members required to convict
• Introducing a new dedicated sexual offences court
• Granting automatic, lifelong anonymity for victims of sexual offences
• Introducing a Victims and Witnesses Commissioner for Scotland

Stuart Munro, Convener of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, said: “We are disappointed our serious concerns are not reflected in the final legislation approved by MSPs, and apprehensive for the increased potential for miscarriages of justice as a result of changes not backed by research or experience elsewhere.

“The fundamental purpose of any criminal justice system is to convict the guilty and acquit the innocent. We’re moving from a system with a proven track record of achieving that outcome to one which is entirely untested and does not exist in any equivalent legal system anywhere in the world.

“The fact that no other jurisdiction operates a three-verdict model is commonly given as a reason for proposing its abolition, but we have significant concerns about following other systems in one respect but not in terms of the jury majority required for a conviction.

“Every legal system with a two-verdict system requires a unanimous or near unanimous jury to convict, whereas Scotland will now have a system where a person can be convicted despite five members of the jury having significant doubts about their guilt.

“Our concerns shouldn’t detract from the fact that we support other key changes this legislation will bring about, including the introduction of a Victims and Witnesses Commissioner and the granting of automatic, lifelong anonymity for victims of sexual offences.”