Dog Theft (Scotland) Act 2026

3 Report on operation of this Act

(1) The Scottish Ministers must, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the reporting period—

(a) prepare and publish a report on the operation of this Act, and

(b) lay the report before the Scottish Parliament.

(2) The report must include the following information in respect of the reporting period—

(a) the number of records made by the Police Service of Scotland of cases categorised by the Police Service as offences under section 1,

(b) the number of persons prosecuted for an offence under section 1,

(c) the number of persons convicted of an offence under section 1,

(d) the nature of each sentence imposed after conviction for an offence under section 1 of this Act, including—

(i) whether an aggravation applied,

(ii) length of sentence of imprisonment or detention, and

(iii) level of fine.

(3) The report may include such other information as the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate.

(4) A relevant person holding information mentioned in subsection (2) must provide that information to the Scottish Ministers—

(a) in such form and manner as the Scottish Ministers may require, and

(b) by such time as the Scottish Ministers may require.

(5) The relevant persons mentioned in subsection (4) are—

(a) the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service,

(b) the Lord Advocate, and

(c) the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland.

(6) In this section, “reporting period” is the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which section 1 comes into force.