Undertaking domestic homicide and suicide reviews: draft statutory guidance - consultation

Annex 6 – Glossary of Terms

Abusive Behaviour

Behaviour that a reasonable person would consider likely to cause physical or psychological harm (including fear, alarm, or distress) to the recipient. It covers all forms of behaviour, including words, actions, or failures to act, and can be directed at a person, property, or through a third party. The behaviour may involve a single incident or a pattern of conduct.

Adult at Risk

An “adult at risk” is a person who, immediately before the death, met the definition set out in section 3 of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007.

Care Experienced children and young people

Refers to children and young people with experience of being cared for in either foster or kinship care.

Case Review Panel

A group tasked with conducting domestic homicide or suicide reviews, led by a chair and including members with relevant insights or expertise. Tasked with investigating and reporting on key events, missed opportunities, and making recommendations.

Child of

Includes a person who is a child of person A or person A’s partner or ex-partner or a child who is accepted as a child of person A or B. The child's age or living situation doesn’t matter in this context—they could live separately and still be considered a child.

Connected Death

The death of a child or young person that occurs as a result of an incident involving abusive behaviour, even if the young person was not the direct target of the abuse and is not directly related to person A or B.

Combined Review

A review conducted on multiple deaths, either due to common perpetrators or shared circumstances, which assesses each case in tandem.

Domestic Abuse Death

A death resulting from abusive behaviour in a relationship. This can include deaths caused directly by the abuse, suicides influenced by the abuse, or violent resistant killings.

Determination

The formal decision made by the Review Oversight Committee on whether to hold a review following the receipt of a notification or referral of a death.

Domestic Homicide and Suicide Review (DHSR)

A review mechanism established to investigate certain deaths arising from abusive behaviour in relationships, focusing on learning systemic lessons rather than attributing liability. Including the deaths of:

• A partner/Ex-partner of the “perpetrator”
• The child of the “perpetrator”
• The child of the partner or ex-partner of “the perpetrator”
• A young person living in the same household as “the perpetrator”, or in the same household as “the perpetrator’s” partner or ex-partner.

Discontinuation of Review Proceedings

Where the Lord Advocate orders the discontinuation of review proceedings under section 23.

Duty of Co-operation

An obligation placed on designated core participants as defined in section 25 to provide assistance and information to review bodies during the consideration or review of a death.

Guidance

Recommendations contained in a document issued by the Scottish Ministers (including this document) which are to be taken into account by the Review Oversight Committee and Case Review Panels.

Information Notice

A formal request for information made by Scottish Ministers or review bodies, compelling persons or organisations to provide necessary information.

Joint Review

A domestic homicide or suicide review and a minimum of one other review where there is a crossover in remit and as such, come together under the auspices of a domestic homicide or suicide review e.g. a DHSR and a Child Protection Learning Review and/ or Mental Health Review.

Looked After Child

A child who has been placed under the care of local authorities, either through foster care or other child protection arrangements.

Lord Advocate

The chief legal officer of Scotland with the power to order the suspension or discontinuation of review proceedings to avoid conflicts with criminal proceedings or investigations.

Individual Management Review Report

A form completed by relevant agencies when they have been contacted to provide information on the persons that are subject to review.

Nominating Bodies

Organisations responsible for nominating members to the review oversight committee.

Notification

A formal written communication to the review oversight committee about a death that may require review. It must include relevant information and be copied to the Scottish Ministers.

Notifying Bodies

Entities responsible for notifying the review oversight committee about potentially reviewable deaths. In this context, Police Scotland’s Chief Constable, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner and the Lord Advocate are the notifying bodies.

Partner/ ex-partner

Refers to someone who is married, in a civil partnership, or in an intimate relationship with another person. Ex-partner is interpreted accordingly with no requirement that the parties need to be living together to be partners.

Periodic Reports

Reports prepared and laid in the Scottish Parliament by Scottish Ministers summarising themes, key points, lessons learned from domestic homicide or suicide reviews over the previous reporting period of two years.

Perpetrator/ Person A

The person who exhibits abusive behaviour towards another individual in a domestic relationship.

Principal Individuals

Key individuals involved in a review, such as friends, community members, or professionals who had a relationship with the subject of a Domestic Homicide or Suicide Review.

Protocol

A formal agreement outlining processes and arrangements between key parties (Review Oversight Committee Chair, Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Lord Advocate, PIRC, Scottish Ministers) to ensure review proceedings do not prejudice criminal investigations, proceedings, or inquiries.

Legally privileged Information

Information that is protected from disclosure, such as legally privileged material, which does not need to be provided in reviews or court proceedings.

Designated Core Participants

Named bodies and entities listed under section 25, required to cooperate with the review process. These include:

• A local authority
• A health board
• A special health board
• The chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland
• The Scottish Police Authority
• The Police Investigations and Review
• Commissioner
• The Lord Advocate
• The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• The Scottish Ministers in the exercise of their functions under the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989 (i.e. the Scottish Prison Service)
• Community Justice Scotland
• Risk Management Authority
• Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (the Care Inspectorate)
• The Scottish Social Services Council
• Social Work Scotland Ltd

Referral

When Scottish Ministers bring a death to the committee’s attention without receiving notification from another notifying body, particularly if the death occurred abroad.

Relevant Officeholder

An individual appointed to a role such as chair or deputy chair of the review oversight committee or chair of a case review panel.

Report

The document produced at the conclusion of a review by the case review panel, including timelines of events, missed opportunities, conclusions, and recommendations.

Review Oversight Committee

A body established to oversee and ensure the conduct of domestic homicide or suicide reviews, responsible for appointing case review panels. It includes a chair, deputy chair, and members who are either nominated and approved by Ministers or appointed directly by Ministers.

Reviewable Death

A death which is eligible for review and will be reviewed if it is considered by the ROC to meet the sift criteria.

Review Proceedings

Formal processes undertaken by a case review panel to examine circumstances around a death, including preparing and submitting reports.

Revocation of Notification

The process of withdrawing a notification when further information leads to the death no longer being considered reviewable or where the notification was made in error, so long as the review committee has not yet made a decision about reviewability.

Sift Stage

The phase in which the review oversight committee determines whether a review should be conducted into a reviewable death.

Suicide Contributing Factor

The involvement of abusive behaviour as a contributing factor to a person’s death by suicide. There does not need to be a causal link between the abusive behaviour and the suicide.

Suspension of Review Proceedings

A temporary halt in review processes ordered by the Lord Advocate, often to prevent interference with criminal investigations.

Terms of Reference

The guidelines and objectives set by the committee for a case review panel to follow during the review.

Violent Resistance Killings

A scenario in which a person subjected to abusive behaviour kills the perpetrator as a form of retaliation or self-defence.

Young Person

An individual under 18 years old, or under 26 if they were in care (a "looked after" child).