One of the key provisions in Part 6 of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill is the introduction of automatic reporting restrictions for sexual and other qualifying offences. Introduced by the Scottish Government, the proposals will be scrutinised by Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee over the coming months. On behalf of the CCA, Seonaid … Continue reading CCA’s written evidence on the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill
The Scottish Government introduced the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill in December 2022. The Bill proposed a range of reforms for children and justice – including a recasting of the anonymity provisions and reporting restrictions imposed in cases involving children accused of crime – and child witnesses and complainers. The key changes are set … Continue reading CCA’s written evidence on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill
On Friday 27th of January 2023, we held a panel event at GCU on Complainer Anonymity: Reforming Scots law with support from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education. The event was de signed to be a panel-based session, which allowed for presentations from key stakeholders, with different perspectives to share, as well as allowing for … Continue reading Complainer Anonymity: Reforming Scots Law
In the January 2023 edition of the Edinburgh Law Review, campaign co-founders Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe and Andrew Tickell have published a new research paper building on the research work of the CCA. Entitled “Interpreting sexual offence verdicts: public attitudes to complainer anonymity and the “not proven” debate,” the article reports findings of an opinion poll on complainer … Continue reading Interpreting sexual offence verdicts: public attitudes to complainer anonymity and the “not proven” debate
In her column in The Herald newspaper, Catriona Stewart – a panelist at our recent Complainer Anonymity: Reforming Scots Law event – event reflects on the reform campaign and public understandings (and misunderstandings) about the current state of the law.
Accompanying our Complainer Anonymity: Reforming Scots Law event at GCU, Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe spoke to STV News about the need for reform in this area of law and why automatic complainer anonymity is important to victims and survivors of sexual violence. It was also also great to have @STVNews coverage of @Campaign4CA – you can watch … Continue reading CCA featured on STV News
The work of the campaign has been underpinned by comparative research by the team, looking to learn the best lessons from international practice where reporting restrictions apply to sexual offence cases. In the Edinburgh Law Review, Dr Andrew Tickell has explored key policy design questions facing the Scottish Government in legislating for complainer anonymity, drawing on … Continue reading How should complainer anonymity for sexual offences be introduced in Scotland?
The Campaign for Complainer Anonymity recently presented at the Scottish University Law Clinic Network (SULCN) Conference. You can download an abbreviated copy of our presentation, with narration by Emma Smith, on the link below. Campaign for Complainer Anonymity
Campaign co-founders Annabel Mackay, Faiza Ashfaq and Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe write for the The Journal of the Law Society of Scotland on why we founded The CCA https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/journal/issues/vol-66-issue-06/opinion-campaign-for-complainer-anonymity/
