Written Question · S5W-26438 · Session 5
How many people have been contacted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and invited to make a victim impact statement under t…
The question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been contacted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and invited to make a victim impact statement under the terms of section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, and how many of those contacted chose to make such a victim statement in each of the last five years, broken down by the number of (a) adult victims, (b) victims aged between 12 and 18, (c) victims under the age of 12 and (d) victims whose cases involved an allegation of domestic abuse.
The answer
2014-15 to 2017-18
2014
- 2015
2015
- 2016
2016
- 2017
2017
- 2018
Victim Statements Issued
6647
6799
6624
6217
Victim StatementsReturned
1161
1127
1077
1037
Explanatory Notes:
1. For the years 2014-2015 to 2017-2018, automated retrieval of the requested breakdown of Victim Statements issued is not possible.
2. COPFS records the number of Victim Statements issued and returned rather than the number of people who were issued with and returned a Victim Statement. In some circumstances a person may be issued with and return more than one Victim Statement, for example, if they wish to describe additional information that they had omitted from their original Victim Statement. Accordingly, the number of Victim Statements issued and returned is likely to be greater than the number of people to whom Victim Statements were issued and who returned them.
2018-19
Adult (18 years and older)
12-17 years
Under 12 years
Age not recorded
Victim Statements Issued
5449
732
102
363
Victim Statements Returned
867
136
21
53
Domestic
Victim Statements Issued
1470
Victim Statements Returned
238
Explanatory Notes:
1. For the year 2018–2019, a change to the method of recording the number of Victim Statements issued and returned enables COPFS to provide the requested breakdown.
2. All cases that contain offences that are domestically aggravated are identified on COPFS systems by the inclusion of a domestic identifier code. In identifying cases that involve an allegation of domestic abuse for this question COPFS have identified cases that have this domestic identifier code attached to them in which a Victim Statement has been issued.
3. COPFS records the number of Victim Statements issued and returned rather than the number of people who were issued with and returned a Victim Statement. In some circumstances a person may be issued with and return more than one Victim Statement, for example, if they wish to describe additional information that they omitted from their original Victim Statement. Accordingly, the number of Victim Statements issued and returned is likely to be greater than the number of people to whom Victim Statements were issued and who returned them.
2014
- 2015
2015
- 2016
2016
- 2017
2017
- 2018
Victim Statements Issued
6647
6799
6624
6217
Victim StatementsReturned
1161
1127
1077
1037
Explanatory Notes:
1. For the years 2014-2015 to 2017-2018, automated retrieval of the requested breakdown of Victim Statements issued is not possible.
2. COPFS records the number of Victim Statements issued and returned rather than the number of people who were issued with and returned a Victim Statement. In some circumstances a person may be issued with and return more than one Victim Statement, for example, if they wish to describe additional information that they had omitted from their original Victim Statement. Accordingly, the number of Victim Statements issued and returned is likely to be greater than the number of people to whom Victim Statements were issued and who returned them.
2018-19
Adult (18 years and older)
12-17 years
Under 12 years
Age not recorded
Victim Statements Issued
5449
732
102
363
Victim Statements Returned
867
136
21
53
Domestic
Victim Statements Issued
1470
Victim Statements Returned
238
Explanatory Notes:
1. For the year 2018–2019, a change to the method of recording the number of Victim Statements issued and returned enables COPFS to provide the requested breakdown.
2. All cases that contain offences that are domestically aggravated are identified on COPFS systems by the inclusion of a domestic identifier code. In identifying cases that involve an allegation of domestic abuse for this question COPFS have identified cases that have this domestic identifier code attached to them in which a Victim Statement has been issued.
3. COPFS records the number of Victim Statements issued and returned rather than the number of people who were issued with and returned a Victim Statement. In some circumstances a person may be issued with and return more than one Victim Statement, for example, if they wish to describe additional information that they omitted from their original Victim Statement. Accordingly, the number of Victim Statements issued and returned is likely to be greater than the number of people to whom Victim Statements were issued and who returned them.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S5W-26438 by reference.