British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 - recommendations: SG response
Sets out a range of government actions in response to recommendations made by the Equalities, Human Rights, and Civil Justice report into the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015, the BSL National Plan 2023-2029, and BSL Local Plans by listed authorities.
13. Court proceedings
13.1 Recommendation 27/paragraph 117
The Committee understands how challenging it must be for Deaf people to navigate the legal system and notes the calls of stakeholders for information to be provided in their native language.
We therefore invite the Scottish Government to set out what steps it intends to take to achieve this and to respond to calls for BSL intermediaries who provide support to Deaf people involved in court proceedings to be introduced in Scotland.
13.1.1 Decision
Partially accept
13.1.2 Scottish Government Response
The British Sign Language Justice Advisory Group is made up of justice sector organisations and representatives of BSL users. It is currently focusing on a model for BSL intermediaries.
The provision of information in BSL format is actively discussed at the group and actions are being identified to deliver information in BSL that help BSL users navigate the legal system.
13.2 Recommendation 28 & 29 /paragraph 118 & 119
Paragraph 118: The Committee welcomes the amendment to the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill agreed at Stage 2 which enables the appointment of communication supporters to enable Deaf people to serve as jurors and participate effectively in trials in that capacity.
Paragraph 119: We further welcome confirmation that “different types of communication supporters” are involved in further deliberations on the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill and invite the Scottish Government to update the Committee on the outcome of these deliberations when complete.
13.2.1 Decision
Accept
13.2.2 Scottish Government Response
The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament in September 2025 and received Royal Assent on 30 October 2025. Section 64 of the Act will insert a new section 88A into the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 to enable the court to appoint a communication supporter for a juror and allows them to be present in the jury room. This will allow people who, as a result of physical disability, require a communication supporter to participate effectively in jury deliberations.
Whilst we acknowledge that many BSL users do not identify as disabled and that BSL is first and foremost a language and a culture, BSL users will be included in this legislation by virtue of allowing communication support into the jury deliberation room.
This section has not yet been commenced. We are engaging closely with the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and the Criminal Courts Rules Council as they make preparations for implementation, including making necessary changes to court rules.
SCTS intend to initially focus on the provision of BSL interpreters for jurors who use BSL. However, the definition of communication supporters has been drafted as broadly as possible to allow for different types of support to be rolled out at a later stage.
We will keep the Committee updated on the progress of implementation of section 64 and any plans for future roll out.