SCOTS have said a two-verdict system should be brought into criminal trials instead of using a third option of not proven to make it easier to understand.
Responses to a consultation on Scotland's controversial not proven verdict have been published today.
The survey received 200 responses from the public, legal sector, and those with lived experience.
It also considered other potential related reforms including jury size, the majority required for conviction and the requirement for corroboration.
In Scottish criminal trials there are three verdicts: guilty, not guilty and not proven. The not proven verdict has no definition in law but the legal implications are exactly the same as a not guilty verdict.
The independent analysis report of the consultation responses found:
- respondents supported changing to a two-verdict system reasoning that it would be easier to understand, fairer, and more straightforward
- respondents favoured verdicts of guilty and not guilty (compared to 41% who supported proven and not proven)
- a majority of respondents from a wide range of stakeholders supported a qualified jury majority of some kind if there is a move to two verdicts
- a majority of respondents supported jury size remaining at 15 jurors
- a higher number of respondents supported keeping the corroboration rule than reforming or abolishing it
Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: “I am very grateful to all of those individuals and organisations who have taken the time to contribute their views on these matters, particularly those who have shared their personal experience of the justice system.
“We must now give careful consideration to the full-range of responses received. The findings from this consultation analysis will be used along with a wide range of other information and evidence to inform the decision-making process on any potential recommendations for reform.
“Any potential reforms will be considered alongside wider work including the outcome of the current consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system.”
Independent jury research published in 2019 and later engagement on the findings highlighted inconsistent views on the meaning and effect of the not proven verdict and how it differs from not guilty.
The Scottish Government committed in its Programme for Government to launch a public consultation on the three-verdict system and whether the not proven verdict should be abolished, and to also consider reform of the corroboration rule.
The basic principle of the corroboration rule is that an accused cannot be convicted of a crime unless the essential facts of the crime are able to be established by evidence from at least two independent sources.
North East Fife MP and former police officer Wendy Chamberlain added: "Use of the not proven verdict doesn’t sit well in a modern legal context. The defendant remains neither innocent nor guilty.
"It leaves victims without the justice they deserve whilst those wrongfully accused may never clear their names. It is time to drop the not proven verdict."
