Meeting of the Parliament 23 April 2024
I sincerely thank my colleagues on the Criminal Justice Committee and the committee clerks for what is an excellent report. The convener outlined its contents earlier. It is clear that we need transformative change in our justice system for victims and complainers when it comes to rape and sexual offences. I, too, welcome the fact that we were able to engage so closely with the victims who put themselves forward to speak to the committee.
Scottish Labour supports the Government’s aims and the view that it is time for change, but we believe that it needs to have a comprehensive plan to look separately at each reform in the bill. We believe that there is too much substantial reform for one bill.
We also believe that a lot can be achieved without legislation. In fact, some of that change is already beginning to happen. Examples are the giving of evidence by commission, which the cabinet secretary mentioned, and the tightened application of section 275 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 for rape trials. As we heard, the Lord Advocate has made a huge difference in ensuring that victims get more access to their lawyers, and the judge is now required to charge the jury specifically on the question of rape myths. I give all credit to all those who have been involved in that.