Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025

Investigations

11 Carrying out investigations

(1) The Commissioner may carry out an investigation into whether, by what means, and the extent to which a criminal justice body has, or has had, regard to the rights, interests, and views of victims and witnesses in making decisions or taking actions that affect those victims and witnesses.

(2) The Commissioner may carry out an investigation under subsection (1) only if the Commissioner, having considered the available evidence on, and any information received about, the matter, is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the investigation would not duplicate work that is properly the function of another person.

(3) The Commissioner may not carry out an investigation so far as it would relate to—

(a) the making of decisions or taking of action in particular legal proceedings before a court or tribunal, or

(b) a matter which is the subject of legal proceedings before a court or tribunal.

12 Initiation and conduct of investigation

(1) Before taking any steps in the conduct of an investigation, the Commissioner must—

(a) draw up terms of reference for the investigation, and

(b) take such steps as appear to the Commissioner to be appropriate with a view to bringing notice of the investigation and terms of reference to the attention of persons likely to be affected by it.

(2) An investigation is to be conducted in public except to the extent that the Commissioner considers that the taking of evidence in private is necessary or appropriate.

13 Investigations: witnesses and documents

(1) The Commissioner may require any person to—

(a) give evidence on any matter within the terms of reference of an investigation,

(b) produce documents in the custody or control of that person which have a bearing on any such matter.

(2) The Commissioner may not impose a requirement under subsection (1) on any person whom the Parliament could not require, under section 23 of the Scotland Act 1998, to attend its proceedings for the purpose of giving evidence or to produce documents.

(3) A person is not obliged under this section to answer any question or produce any document which that person would be entitled to refuse to answer or produce in proceedings in a court in Scotland.

(4) A representative of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is not obliged under this section to answer any question or produce any document concerning the operation of the system of criminal prosecution in any particular case if the Lord Advocate—

(a) considers that answering the question or producing the document might prejudice criminal proceedings in that case or would otherwise be contrary to the public interest, and

(b) has authorised the representative to decline to answer the question or produce the document on that ground.

(5) The Scottish Ministers may, by regulations, make further provision in relation to the giving of evidence or the production of documents under subsection (1).

(6) In subsection (4), a “representative of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service” means—

(a) Crown Counsel,

(b) a procurator fiscal,

(c) a person employed in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service,

(d) any person duly authorised to represent or act for the persons mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c).

14 Reports on investigations

(1) The Commissioner must, at the conclusion of an investigation, publish a report of the investigation.

(2) The report may include a requirement for the criminal justice body to respond to the report, within such period as the Commissioner reasonably requires, with a statement in writing addressed to the Commissioner setting out its reasoned response to the report.

(3) A report of an investigation must not be published until the criminal justice body which was the subject of the investigation has, to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable to do so, been given a copy of the draft report and an opportunity to make representations on it.

(4) The Commissioner must lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable following its publication.