The Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2019

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order partly commences section 26 (victim surcharge) of the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”). It commences section 26, so far as not already in force, for the limited purposes of inserting sections 253F to 253J into the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”), with the exception of section 253G(4)(a) and (b).

Section 26 of the 2014 Act inserts sections 253F to 253J into the 1995 Act and those sections make provision for the introduction of the victim surcharge and the creation of the victim surcharge fund (“the Fund”). Section 253G(4) provides that any payment out of the Fund may be made to a victim, a prescribed relative of a victim or a person who provides or secures the provision of support services for victims. Payments may also be made to the operator of the Fund in respect of administrative expenses. This Order does not insert paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 253G(4) into the 1995 Act and these paragraphs provide that payments may be made out of the Fund to victims of crime and the prescribed relatives of victims respectively.

This restricted commencement of section 26 of the 2014 Act means that only paragraphs (c) and (d) of section 253G(4) will be inserted into the 1995 Act. Accordingly, until the full commencement of section 26, payments from the Fund may only be made to (1) persons who provide or secure the provision of support services for victims; or (2) the operator of the Fund in respect of administrative expenses. Payments from the Fund cannot be made directly to victims of crime or the prescribed relatives of victims until the remainder of section 26 is brought into force.

The Bill for the 2014 Act received Royal Assent on 17 January 2014. The following sections of the 2014 Act came into force on the following day: sections 30 (in part), 31 (in part), 32, 33, 34 and 35.