Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Act 2025

Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Act 2025

2025 asp 14

Interpretation

Part 2: Domestic Homicide and Suicide Reviews

Sift stage

Section 21 – Reconsideration of whether to hold a review

189. Subsection (1) of this section allows for the reconsideration of a decision that a review was not to be carried out in respect of a death. This is permitted where the person who made that decision (i.e. the review oversight committee or, as the case may be, the Scottish Ministers) believes it is appropriate to reconsider the death as a result of becoming aware of relevant information which they did not have at the time of their previous consideration. Subsection (4) clarifies what is meant by referring to the “decision-maker” in respect of the previous consideration: other than where Ministers actually made the previous decision themselves, this means the review oversight committee (even if the committee took advice from Ministers).

190. A reconsideration could therefore take place under subsection (1) where the previous outcome was that the death did not fall within section 12 and was therefore not reviewable, or where, although the death fell within the criteria, a review was nevertheless not thought to be appropriate (for example, because the abusive behaviour was not grounded in partner/ex-partner abuse, or because the link to Scotland was insufficient to allow there to be enough information and learning to be taken from the review).

191. Where a reconsideration takes place, subsection (2)(a) provides that section 19 applies as it applies following notification/referral of a death, subject to one exception. The exception is that if the Scottish Ministers were asked to make the determination then they are to perform the review oversight committee’s functions under section 19(1)(a) and (b)(i) in the reconsideration. This would mean that they would look afresh at whether they considered the death to be a reviewable one and, if so, whether a review ought to be held. If the original decision was made by the review oversight committee, they will be able to take advice from Ministers if they wish or refer the question to Ministers in exactly the same way as they would have been able to originally.

192. Subsection (2)(b) provides that the outcome of the reconsideration is to be treated as being the outcome of consideration of a death under section 19. There are two consequences to this. First, any reference to “the outcome of consideration of a death under section 19” includes a reference to the outcome of a reconsideration (meaning, for example, that a case review panel has to be convened under section 22(1)). Second, it means that the outcome of a reconsideration can itself be reconsidered if it meets the criteria in subsection (1) of this section.

193. Subsection (3) goes on to provide that where a reconsideration is itself reconsidered, references to the “previous” consideration are to the previous reconsideration or, if there has been more than one reconsideration, to the most recent of them.