Explanatory Notes

Apologies (Scotland) Act 2016

2016 asp 5

23 February 2016

The Act

3.The Act gives legal protection to an apology, in certain circumstances. It provides that an apology (as defined in terms of the Act) is inadmissible in certain civil proceedings as evidence of anything relevant to the determination of liability, and cannot otherwise be used to the prejudice of the person making the apology (or on whose behalf it is made). The Act has the broader purpose of encouraging a cultural and social change in attitudes towards apologising.