Transforming the justice system for victims and witnesses

19th September 2025

A landmark Bill to place victims and witnesses at the heart of the justice system has been passed by Parliament.

The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill contains historic reforms to transform victims’ and witnesses’ experience of the justice system and ensure they are treated with compassion, while continuing to safeguard the rights of the accused.

Key reforms include abolishing the ‘not proven’ verdict in all criminal trials to help create a clearer, fairer and more transparent decision-making process. The jury majority required for a conviction will move from a simple majority to at least two-thirds to ensure fairness and balance.

The Bill will see trauma-informed practice embedded across the system to avoid victims being re-traumatised by the legal process. It will improve the Victim Notification Scheme and establish an independent Victims and Witnesses Commissioner for Scotland to champion their rights.

The legislation also includes significant new measures to meet the needs of survivors of sexual offences by:

establishing a specialist Sexual Offences Court to enable complainers to give their best evidence while minimising the potential for re-traumatisation
protecting the dignity of victims of sexual offences through an automatic lifelong right of anonymity
providing an automatic right to independent legal representation for complainers in sexual offence cases when an application is made in court to lead evidence of the complainer’s sexual history or character
creating a legal right for victims in rape and serious sexual offences cases to access transcripts of the court proceedings free of charge.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said:

“This historic legislation will put victims and witnesses at the heart of a modern and fair justice system.

“By changing culture, process and practice across the system, it will help to ensure victims are heard, supported, protected and treated with compassion, while the rights of the accused will continue to be safeguarded.

“This legislation, which builds on progress in recent years, has been shaped by the voices of victims, survivors, their families and support organisations, and it is testimony to their tireless efforts to campaign for further improvement. I am grateful to those who bravely shared their experiences to inform the development of this legislation and pave a better, more compassionate path for others.”