Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020

17Campaign offences: summary proceedings

This section has no associated Explanatory Notes

(1)Summary proceedings for a campaign offence may, without prejudice to any jurisdiction exercisable apart from this subsection, be taken—

(a)against any body, including an unincorporated association, at any place at which it has a place of business, and

(b)against an individual at any place at which the individual is for the time being.

(2)Despite anything in section 136 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (time limit for certain offences), summary proceedings for a campaign offence may be commenced within the period of 6 months after the relevant date but no later than 3 years after the date of commission of the offence; and subsection (3) of that section applies for the purposes of this subsection as it applies for the purposes of that section.

(3)In this section “the relevant date” means the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to justify proceedings comes to the prosecutor’s knowledge.

(4)For the purposes of subsection (3) a certificate of any prosecutor as to the date on which such evidence as is there mentioned came to the prosecutor’s knowledge is conclusive evidence of that fact.