Rejected petition Abolish the ‘Not Proven’ verdict in Scottish law

Scotland is the only country to have 3 verdict options in law- guilty, not guilty and not proven. Not proven goes either two ways- either the jury think that the suspect is guilty but haven’t got enough evidence or they just aren’t very sure.

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So many people are failed by the Scottish justice system in rape trials due to the not proven verdict. To go through years of trauma talking to police, procurator fiscal, lawyers and physical checks to their body for evidence. To question their character, whether they were under the influence of alcohol, what they were wearing- it is extremely humiliating to a person. The not proven verdict means that most rapists that go to trial get to walk free while the victim is dehumanised by speaking out.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.

We can't accept your petition because this is the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament and not the UK Government or Parliament.

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https://www.parliament.scot/gettinginvolved/petitions/

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Date submitted 6 May 2019
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