This idea has been created by the Scrutinise team as a historical case study. It represents real legislation that reached the statute book through civil society advocacy. It is presented here to show how that process might have looked on Scrutinise.
Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018
Created a specific offence of domestic abuse for the first time in Scotland, explicitly covering coercive and controlling behaviour — pre-dating the equivalent England/Wales legislation by three years. Scottish Women's Aid drove the campaign over a decade.
Summary
Created a specific offence of domestic abuse for the first time in Scotland, explicitly covering coercive and controlling behaviour — pre-dating the equivalent England/Wales legislation by three years. Scottish Women's Aid drove the campaign over a decade.
Challenge (summary)
Coercive and controlling behaviour — the most common form of domestic abuse — was not a criminal offence in Scotland. The existing criminal law only captured individual violent incidents, missing the pattern of behaviour that characterises abuse.
Approach (summary)
A new standalone criminal offence of domestic abuse covering any course of behaviour that is abusive — physical, sexual, psychological, or financial — with a specific provision for the impact on children in the household.
First step (summary)
Introduce the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill creating a new offence in section 1 covering any abusive behaviour toward a partner or ex-partner; include the children's aggravation in section 5; ensure training for Police Scotland, prosecutors and judiciary.