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

Chapter 2 Organisation of business

President and Vice President of the Sexual Offences Court

76 President and Vice President of the Sexual Offences Court

(1) The Lord Justice General may assume the office of President of the Sexual Offences Court.

(2) If the Lord Justice General does not assume office under subsection (1), then the Lord Justice General must appoint—

(a) the Lord Justice Clerk, or

(b) one of the Judges of the Sexual Offences Court,

to the office of President of the Sexual Offences Court.

(3) The Lord Justice General must appoint—

(a) the Lord Justice Clerk, or

(b) one of the Judges of the Sexual Offences Court,

to the office of Vice President of the Sexual Offences Court.

(4) A person appointed under subsection (2)(b) must hold the office of Lord Commissioner of Justiciary.

(5) A person may not hold the office of President and Vice President of the Sexual Offences Court at the same time.

(6) The President and Vice President—

(a) each hold the respective office for such period as the Lord Justice General may determine,

(b) may at any time resign office—

(i) by giving notice in writing to the Lord Justice General, or

(ii) where the Lord Justice General resigns the office of President of the Sexual Offences Court, by publishing notice of that resignation.

(7) The Lord Justice General may at any time remove the President or Vice President from office.

(8) If a person holding office as President or Vice President is, for any period, suspended from office as—

(a) Lord Justice General,

(b) Lord Justice Clerk,

(c) Lord Commissioner of Justiciary,

(d) temporary judge, or

(e) a relevant judicial office mentioned in section 74(6),

the person is also suspended from office as President or Vice President, as the case may be, for the same period.

77 President and Vice President: incapacity and suspension

(1) Subsection (2) applies during any period when the President of the Sexual Offences Court—

(a) is unable (for any reason) to carry out the functions of the office, or

(b) is suspended from office.

(2) During the period mentioned in subsection (1)—

(a) the functions of the President are to be carried out instead by the Vice President of the Sexual Offences Court, and

(b) anything that falls to be done in relation to the President falls to be done instead in relation to the Vice President.

(3) Subsection (4) applies during any period when both the President and the Vice President of the Sexual Offences Court—

(a) are unable (for any reason) to carry out the functions of the President, or

(b) are suspended from office.

(4) During the period mentioned in subsection (3), subsection (2) does not apply and—

(a) the Lord Justice General may undertake to carry out the functions of the President, if the Lord Justice General is not the President,

(b) if the Lord Justice General does not undertake to carry out the functions of the President under paragraph (a), the Lord Justice General must direct that the functions of the President are to be carried out instead by—

(i) the Lord Justice Clerk, if the Lord Justice Clerk is not the President or Vice President, or

(ii) such Judge of the Sexual Offences Court (other than the President or Vice President) as the Lord Justice General may appoint to act in place of the President, and

(c) anything that falls to be done in relation to the President falls to be done instead in relation to the person carrying out the functions of the President in accordance with this subsection.

Disposal of business

78 President’s responsibility for efficient disposal of business

(1) The President of the Sexual Offences Court is responsible for ensuring the efficient disposal of business in the Sexual Offences Court.

(2) The President must make such arrangements as appear necessary or expedient for the purpose of carrying out the responsibility imposed by subsection (1).

(3) In particular, the President may provide for the allocation of business among the Judges of the Sexual Offences Court.

(4) In carrying out the responsibility imposed by subsection (1), the President must have regard to the desirability of doing so in a way that accords with trauma-informed practice.

(5) In carrying out the responsibility imposed by subsection (1), the President may give a direction of an administrative character to—

(a) a Judge of the Sexual Offences Court,

(b) a member of staff of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

(6) A person who receives a direction under subsection (5) must comply with the direction.

(7) This section is subject to section 2(2)(a) and (2A) of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008.

Sittings

79 Sittings of the Sexual Offences Court

(1) More than one sitting of the Sexual Offences Court may take place at the same time, and at different places.

(2) Sittings of the Sexual Offences Court may be held at any place in Scotland.

(3) The President of the Sexual Offences Court may by order prescribe—

(a) the number of sittings of the Sexual Offences Court that are to be held at each place at which they may be held, and

(b) the days on which, and the times at which, those sittings are to be held.

(4) Before making an order under subsection (3), the President must consult—

(a) the Lord Justice General, if the Lord Justice General is not the President,

(b) the Lord Advocate.

(5) The President must publish notice of the matters prescribed by an order under subsection (3) in such manner as the President thinks appropriate in order to bring those matters to the attention of persons having an interest in them.

(6) Subsection (3) is subject to section 2(2)(a) and (2A) of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008.

(7) In addition to those prescribed by order under subsection (3), the Sexual Offences Court must hold such further sittings as the Lord Advocate may require.

Transfer of cases

80 Transfer of cases to the Sexual Offences Court

(1) The 1995 Act is amended as follows.

(2) After section 288BZA, insert—

“Transfer of cases to the Sexual Offences Court

288BZB Transfer of cases to the Sexual Offences Court

(1) This section applies when an accused person has been cited to attend a diet of—

(a) the sheriff court on indictment, or

(b) the High Court of Justiciary.

(2) In this section, the “relevant court” means the High Court of Justiciary or the sheriff court which the accused person has been cited to attend.

(3) On an application under subsection (4), the relevant court may, on cause shown, make an order for the transfer of the proceedings to the Sexual Offences Court and for adjournment to a diet of that Court (“a transfer order”).

(4) An application may be made to the relevant court for a transfer order—

(a) by the prosecutor,

(b) jointly by the prosecutor and the accused.

(5) Where an application is made—

(a) by the prosecutor under subsection (4)(a),

(b) jointly by the prosecutor and the accused under subsection (4)(b), and there is another accused in the case who is not party to the application,

the relevant court must, before making a transfer order, give the accused, or the accused who is not party to the application, as the case may be, an opportunity to make representations about the application, whether orally or in writing.

(6) An application under subsection (4) may be made—

(a) at any time in the period beginning with the day on which the accused is served with an indictment and ending on the day on which the trial diet is first appointed,

(b) on cause shown, at any time in the period beginning with the day after the period mentioned in paragraph (a) expires and ending on the day before the trial diet commences.

(7) The relevant court may consider an application under subsection (4) at a first diet (in the case of proceedings in the sheriff court) or the preliminary hearing (in the case of proceedings in the High Court).

(8) At a first diet or preliminary hearing, as the case may be, the relevant court may ask the prosecutor and the accused any question in connection with any matter which is relevant to an application under subsection (4).

(9) Section 74 applies to a decision—

(a) to make a transfer order under this section,

(b) not to make such an order,

whether or not such decision was made at a first diet (in the case of proceedings in the sheriff court) or a preliminary hearing (in the case of proceedings in the High Court).

(10) Where a transfer order is made under this section, the first diet (in the case of proceedings in the sheriff court) or preliminary hearing (in the case of proceedings in the High Court) is to be treated as the preliminary hearing of the Sexual Offences Court for the purpose of section 65.”.

81 Transfer of cases from the Sexual Offences Court

(1) This section applies when an accused person has been cited to attend a diet of the Sexual Offences Court.

(2) On an application under subsection (3), the Sexual Offences Court may, on cause shown, make an order for the transfer of the proceedings to the High Court of Justiciary or a sheriff court with jurisdiction to hear the case, as specified in the application, and for an adjournment to a diet of that court (“a transfer order”).

(3) An application may be made to the Sexual Offences Court for a transfer order—

(a) by the prosecutor,

(b) jointly by the prosecutor and the accused.

(4) Where an application is made—

(a) by the prosecutor under subsection (3)(a),

(b) jointly by the prosecutor and the accused under subsection (3)(b), and there is another accused in the case who is not party to the application,

the Sexual Offences Court must, before making a transfer order, give the accused, or the accused who is not party to the application, as the case may be, an opportunity to make representations about the application, whether orally or in writing.

(5) An application under subsection (3) may be made—

(a) at any time in the period beginning with the day on which the accused is served with an indictment and ending on the day on which the trial diet is first appointed,

(b) on cause shown, at any time in the period beginning with the day after the period mentioned in paragraph (a) expires and ending on the day before the trial diet commences.

(6) The Sexual Offences Court may consider an application under subsection (3) at a preliminary hearing.

(7) At a preliminary hearing the Sexual Offences Court may ask the prosecutor and the accused any question in connection with any matter which is relevant to an application under subsection (3).

(8) Section 74 of the 1995 Act applies to a decision—

(a) to make a transfer order under this section,

(b) not to make such an order,

whether or not such decision was made at a preliminary hearing.

(9) Where a transfer order is made under this section, the preliminary hearing of the Sexual Offences Court is to be treated, for the purposes of section 65 of the 1995 Act, as—

(a) the first diet of the sheriff court (in the case of transfer to the sheriff court), or

(b) the preliminary hearing of the High Court (in the case of transfer to the High Court).

(10) In this section—

• “first diet” is to be construed in accordance with section 66(6)(a) of the 1995 Act,

• “preliminary hearing” is to be construed in accordance with section 66(6)(b) of that Act.

Rights of audience

82 Rights of audience: solicitors

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (7), a solicitor has a right of audience in the Sexual Offences Court only if the solicitor meets the requirement set out in subsection (4).

(2) Where an indictment in the Sexual Offences Court includes one or more offence mentioned in subsection (3), then a solicitor has a right of audience in respect of that indictment only if, in addition to meeting the requirement set out in subsection (4), the solicitor has a right of audience in the High Court of Justiciary under section 25A of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980.

(3) The offences are—

(a) the offence of—

(i) murder,

(ii) attempted murder,

(iii) rape,

(iv) attempted rape,

(b) an offence under section 1(1) of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 where the alleged course of behaviour includes behaviour which would amount to an offence under section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009,

(c) an offence in relation to which the minimum sentence which may be imposed (whether by virtue of enactment or otherwise) is a period of imprisonment of at least 5 years,

(d) an offence in relation to which the accused is being retried as a result of an application by the Lord Advocate under section 4(3)(b) of the Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Act 2011.

(4) The requirement is that the solicitor has completed (whether before this section comes into force or otherwise) an approved course of training on trauma-informed practice in sexual offence cases.

(5) The Council of the Law Society of Scotland must keep, and make publicly available, a record of the solicitors who have a right of audience in the Sexual Offences Court in accordance with this section.

(6) In this section and section 83, an “approved course of training” means a training course which is approved by the Lord Justice General for the purpose of acquiring rights of audience in the Sexual Offences Court.

(7) Nothing in this section affects the right of a prosecutor to appear in the Sexual Offences Court by virtue of a commission from the Lord Advocate.

(8) The Scottish Ministers may, by regulations, modify the list in subsection (3) so as to—

(a) add an offence or description of an offence,

(b) remove an entry listed in it,

(c) amend an entry listed in it.

(9) Before making regulations under subsection (8), the Scottish Ministers must consult—

(a) the Lord Justice General,

(b) the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service,

(c) the Scottish Legal Aid Board,

(d) the Law Society of Scotland,

(e) the Faculty of Advocates,

(f) such persons providing victim support services as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate.

(10) In this section and in section 85, “victim support services” has the meaning given by section 3D(5) of the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014.

83 Rights of audience: advocates

(1) Subject to subsection (4), an advocate has a right of audience in the Sexual Offences Court only if the advocate meets the requirement set out in subsection (2).

(2) The requirement is that the advocate has completed (whether before this section comes into force or otherwise) an approved course of training on trauma-informed practice in sexual offence cases.

(3) The Faculty of Advocates must keep a record of the advocates who have a right of audience in the Sexual Offences Court in accordance with this section.

(4) Nothing in this section affects the right of a prosecutor to appear in the Sexual Offences Court by virtue of a commission from the Lord Advocate.

84 Statement of training requirement for prosecutors

(1) The Lord Advocate must make available to the public a statement setting out any training on trauma-informed practice in sexual offence cases which prosecutors will be required to complete in order to conduct proceedings in the Sexual Offences Court.

(2) The Lord Advocate may from time to time revise the statement.

(3) In this section and in sections 82 and 83, “prosecutor” means Lord Advocate, Solicitor General, Crown Counsel or procurator fiscal (and any person duly authorised to represent or act for them).

85 Rights of audience: review

(1) The Scottish Ministers must, as soon as reasonably practicable following the expiry of the review period—

(a) carry out a review in relation to legal representation in the Sexual Offences Court including, in particular, in relation to—

(i) rights of audience,

(ii) legal representation of accused persons, and

(iii) the provision of legal aid to accused persons, including the granting of sanction for counsel,

(b) publish a report setting out the findings of the review, and

(c) lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament.

(2) In carrying out the review, the Scottish Ministers must consult—

(a) the Lord Justice General,

(b) the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service,

(c) the Scottish Legal Aid Board,

(d) the Law Society of Scotland,

(e) the Faculty of Advocates,

(f) such persons providing victim support services as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate.

(3) In this section, “review period” means the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which this Part comes fully into force.