Domestic abuse offence to be consulted on in 'next few weeks'

Government will consult again on a specific offence of domestic abuse under criminal law within the “next few weeks”, Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has said.

The Scottish Government sought views earlier this year on the creation of a specific offence after prosecutors warned existing offences and crimes fail to encapsulate all types of abusive behaviour.

However, ministers did not include it in legislation introduced at Holyrood last month off the back of the consultation, citing a lack of consensus on how such an offence should be framed.

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Scottish Labour MSP Claudia Beamish has since used written parliamentary questions to ask what action is being taken “in light of the postponement” in introducing such an offence. 

“It is not correct to say that a specific offence of domestic abuse has been postponed,” said Matheson.

“In our Programme for Government in November 2014 we committed to consult on the principle of creating a specific offence of domestic abuse. We consulted between March and June 2015.

“The views received to that consultation revealed broad support for the principle of having a domestic abuse offence, but no consensus on how such an offence should be developed.

“In light of this, we committed in this year's Programme for Government to consult on a draft specific offence of domestic abuse.

“We consider the right approach is to listen to key stakeholders and take forward the development of such an important new offence informed by their views so that a consensus can be achieved.

“A draft offence will be shared with stakeholders in the next few weeks.”