Scotland’s ‘not proven’ verdict to be scrapped as justice system reforms revealed | UK News
The bill to scrap Scotland’s controversial “not proven” verdict and make changes to the nation’s justice system has been published.
The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill also proposes to reduce the size of criminal juries from 15 to 12.
It aims to address a number of issues around serious sexual offences, creating a new specialist sexual offences court.
Ministers will also have the power to carry out a pilot of rape trials being conducted by a single judge without a jury.
For jury trials, the majority needed for a guilty verdict will be at least two-thirds.
Guilty, not guilty and not proven are three verdicts which can be returned in Scotland.
Last year, then first minister Nicola Sturgeon committed to abolishing the third verdict in the Scottish legal system.
The not proven verdict is unique to Scots law and there is no equivalent in other jurisdictions.
It is seen as controversial because the accused is deemed innocent in the eyes of the law but faces the stigma of having not been completely cleared.
Critics have also argued that the verdict fails to provide closure for victims.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “This landmark legislation is among the most significant since devolution and will ensure fairness is cemented into the bedrock of Scotland’s modern-day justice system.
“Building on the experiences of survivors, victims and their families, these key reforms will make justice services more sensitive to the trauma it can cause.
“This government has been clear we must take action to improve the experience of those who suffer sexual abuse.
“The majority are women, who must be supported to have trust and confidence that the processes of justice will serve their needs, allow them to give their best evidence and support them in their recovery.”
She also hailed the creation of a new independent commissioner for victims and witnesses.
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Earlier, the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland welcomed plans to scrap the not proven verdict, saying she had “no doubt that guilty men are walking free”.
Sandy Brindley said the changes were a “really positive development”.
However, advocate Thomas Ross KC took the opposite view, saying jurors should be trusted to carry out the job they have been given.
He told Good Morning Scotland: “I work with prosecutors every day, I don’t hear them saying that they’re concerned about the conviction rate.
“I hear it every time Sandy’s invited to come on one of these programmes.”
Previously, the Law Society has warned there could be an increase in miscarriages of justice if not proven is scrapped as a verdict.
