This note provides a further update on our petition. We comment on recent responses to the Committee, submitted by Police Scotland, the Scottish Government, the Crown Office and Prosecution Service (COPFS). We also comment on the Bryson case, and its implications…
Read More MBM note to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee. 6 March 2023
In light of the recent Graham/Bryson case, this blog updates the position on our petition calling on the Scottish Parliament: to urge the Scottish Government to require Police Scotland, the Crown Office and the Scottish Court Service to accurately record…
Today the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee considered our petition for a second time. We are pleased that the Committee has decided to keep the petition open and welcome the next steps agreed by members. These include seeking further…
In recent weeks Police Scotland’s policy on recording the identity of those charged with the crime of rape has received considerable media attention. As revealed in a bluntly worded Freedom of Information (FOI) response we received in April last year,…
We are pleased at the Committee’s decision to continue to work on the petition and gather further evidence. The petition raises substantive questions about the accuracy and reliability of criminal justice statistics, particularly in relation to serious sexual offending. It…
The response states that it is “for Police Scotland to determine how the sex of people charged or convicted of rape or attempted rape is recorded on the CHS”. Our petition asks that the Scottish Government require Police Scotland to…
Read More MBM response to Scottish Government submission on Petition 1876
Whose views count? Losing sight of sex in the Police Scotland ‘Your Police’ survey In a recent press article, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey police Lisa Townsend stated that police forces should collect data on both sex and…
Read More Whose views count? Losing sight of sex in the Police Scotland ‘Your Police’ survey
Petition 1876: Accurately record the sex of people charged or convicted of rape or attempted rape Our petition closed for signatories on 5 July, with 12,834 signatures. We are very grateful to all those who signed and shared it. All…
Read More Petition 1876: Next steps and further action needed
Many thanks for taking the time to speak to us last week, and updating us on the criminal justice statistics review. Thanks too for talking us through OSR’s proposed statement regarding the collection of data on sex and gender identity. We have had time to reflect on our discussion and write now with some further comments on both topics...
22 June 2020 DearWe would like to raise our formal concerns about the reliability of some of the statistics published in 'Criminal Proceedings in Scotland'. [1] This is a National Statistics for Scotland publication, which we understand means that it…
