Chamber and committees

That helpfully leads into a question that I was going to ask. Staying with the rape trial pilot, this concerns a point that has come up in evidence, which I was very interested in. During previous evidence, it was suggested that some of the concerns about the pilot without juries might be lessened if there were more than one judge involved in a ruling. I am interested in whether the judiciary has a view on that proposal, as a hypothetical. I will also bring in Sheriff Cubie on that.

That is understood.

I will close this part of the evidence session. Thank you both for your attendance, which has been hugely helpful to us.

I welcome our final panel today. They are Dr Andrew Tickell and Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe, who are both lecturers in law in Glasgow Caledonian University’s department of economics and law. We are very grateful that you have been able to join us. I intend to allow about 45 minutes for this session, in which we will primarily focus on the proposal to grant automatic lifelong anonymity to victims in sexual offences cases.

I will open with a broad question. Will you outline the work that you have done as part of the Glasgow Caledonian University project on complainer anonymity, and the main findings of that research?

Thank you. I will ask a couple of other questions later, but I now open the discussion to members.

Thank you for that nice round-up. It is most helpful.

I will close the session now. I thank the witnesses very much for attending. It has been fascinating evidence.

Next week, we will return to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill with two meetings. The first is on Tuesday with the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association, and the second is on Wednesday with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs. That will be our final evidence session on the bill.

You have spoken about children in response to Russell Findlay’s line of questioning. I will read out what you have written in your submission.

“It is critical that Scots law respects the legitimate autonomy of complainers in these cases and facilitates their decisions to share—or not to share—their experiences, without imposing additional legal or economic costs”.

You go on to say:

“Finding the right balance ... may be particularly challenging in terms of child complainers”.

Could you outline a wee bit more about your research, specifically on the issues that have an impact on children?

That is a helpful update and clarification.

The bill sets out a number of proposals on the victims commissioner’s role. In general, beyond what is set out in the bill, is there anything else that you feel would be relevant to include in that role, or are you supportive of the provisions as they stand? From your previous answer, I think that you are.

I will open up the discussion to members. Pauline McNeill wants to pick up on the matter of a victims commissioner.

Good morning and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2024 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have no apologies.

I welcome the Rt Hon Dorothy Bain KC, the Lord Advocate. Thank you for taking the time to attend—it is much appreciated. We have already heard from Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service officials and have had written evidence, but the committee felt that we needed to ask you specifically about a few very important issues, so we are grateful that you are able to join us today.

I intend to allow up to 60 minutes for this evidence session, and I propose that we focus our questions to the Lord Advocate on the proposal for a victims commissioner, then on trauma-informed training and then, finally, on the abolition of the not proven verdict and changes to jury majorities.

I understand that you do not want to make an opening statement, Lord Advocate, so I will open with a question about the bill’s provisions on the proposed victims and witnesses commissioner. We understand that you have concerns that those provisions might unintentionally interfere with your independence. Will you outline those concerns and the changes that you consider are needed to address them?

Yes.