SASW writes to the Justice Secretary

SASW National Director, Alison Bavidge has written to the Justice Secretary, Keith Brown MSP to share SASW's views on the Scottish Government's proposals to improve victim's experiences of the justice system

The proposed reforms are part of the new 'Vision for Justice in Scotland' published in February 2022. They include:

• Establishing a Victims’ Commissioner for Scotland
• Special measures to assist vulnerable parties involved in civil cases
• Establishment of a new specialist criminal court dealing with serious sexual offences
• New statutory underpinning for anonymity for complainers in sexual offence cases

SASW is broadly supportive of the proposals and has stressed the need for all measures to make practice trauma-informed and person-centred, in keeping with the national approach to trauma training. You can read the letter here.

The public consultation for the proposals is open until 19 August. You can submit your response here.

If you would like to discuss any aspects of SASW's consultation responses, please contact our Policy Officer on jonny.adamson@basw.co.uk