Homicide charges and convictions aggravated by the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016: FOI release

Information requested

1. The total number of homicide charges aggravated by s 1 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 between 2016 and present with a female accused.

2. The total number of homicide charges aggravated by s 1 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 between 2016 and present with a male accused.

3. The total number of homicide convictions aggravated by s 1 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 between 2016 and present with a female accused.

4. The total number of homicide convictions aggravated by s 1 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 between 2016 and present with a male accused.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

However, you may wish to contact the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service or Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service at FOI@copfs.gov.uk or foi@scotcourts.gov.uk, respectively, who may be able to help you.

The Scottish Government's Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics cover people prosecuted and convicted in Scottish courts by main charge and financial year. The main charge is the one that conferred the most severe penalty. The most recent available data is for 2022-23, with data for 2023-24 due to be published in December 2025.

The Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 created a statutory aggravation of domestic abuse, which came into force on 24 April 2017. This aggravation is included in the statistics where proven and recorded against the main charge convicted. Where a charge does not have this aggravation these statistics cannot distinguish between instances where no aggravation was ever alleged or where it was alleged but not proven in court.

In short, the reasons we cannot answer your questions as asked are:

• This data counts people, not charges.
• This data is by financial year not calendar year and only runs until 31 March 2023, not present.
• We can only provide data on the statutory domestic abuse aggravation where it was proven in court.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have this part of the information you have requested.

In specific response to your query this means:

1. The Scottish Government does not hold this data.

2. The Scottish Government does not hold this data.

3. Females convicted with a main charge of homicide (Murder or Culpable homicide) and a statutory domestic abuse aggravation against the charge are shown in the table below.

4. Males convicted with a main charge of homicide (Murder or Culpable homicide) and a statutory domestic abuse aggravation against the charge are shown in the table below.

Table. People convicted of homicide (Murder or Culpable homicide) with a statutory domestic abuse aggravation against the conviction, where main charge, by sex, 2017-18 to 2022-23

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
All convictions	.	2	1	2	1	3
Male Person	.	1	1	2	.	3
Female Person	.	1	.	.	1	.

Notes:

1. 2017-18 represents a partial year due to the implementation of the act partway through the financial year. This may explain the absence of any convictions in this year, especially given assignment to a financial year is based on sentencing date and not when any offence(s) occurred nor when court proceedings began.

2. Data from 2020-21 onwards were affected by the pandemic, including: court closures, reduced court capacities due to physical distancing measures, delays to cases where key participants were force to self-isolate following positive COVID-19 tests and re-prioritisation of cases to deal with the resulting backlogs. Data from this period should not be considered indicative of long term trends.

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