Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

than in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the homicide (illegal killing of a person) either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a pa ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

, offences against property such as

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

and malicious mischief, and public order offences including

mobbing Mobbing, as a sociological term, refers either to bullying in any context, or specifically to that within the workplace, especially when perpetrated by a group rather than an individual. Psychological and health effects Victims of workplace mo ...

and

breach of the peace Breach of the peace or disturbing the peace is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public order England, Wales and Norther ...

. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the

statutes A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

with some areas of criminal law, such as misuse of drugs and

traffic offences A moving violation or traffic violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "moving" distinguishes it from other motor vehicle violations, such as paperwork violations (which include ...

appearing identical on both sides of the Border. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statute books of the Scottish Parliament such as the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (2009 asp 9) and Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 (2007 asp 11) which only apply to Scotland. In fact, the Scots requirement of

corroboration Corroborating evidence, also referred to as corroboration, is a type of evidence in lawful command. Types and uses Corroborating evidence tends to support a proposition that is already supported by some initial evidence, therefore confirming the ...

in criminal matters changes the practical prosecution of crimes derived from the same enactment. Corroboration is not required in England or in civil cases in Scotland.

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

is one of the few

legal systems The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four major legal traditions: civil law (legal system), civil law, common law, customary law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country i ...

that require corroboration.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

The

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under t ...

(''COPFS'') provides independent public prosecution of criminal offences in Scotland (as the more recent

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

does in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

) and has extensive responsibilities in the investigation and prosecution of crime. The Crown Office is headed by the

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

, in whose name all prosecutions are carried out, and employs Advocates Depute (for the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff C ...

) and Procurators Fiscal (for the

Sheriff Court A sheriff court () is the principal local civil and criminal court in Scotland, with exclusive jurisdiction over all civil cases with a monetary value up to , and with the jurisdiction to hear any criminal case except treason, murder, and ra ...

s) as public prosecutors.

Private prosecution A private prosecution is a criminal proceeding initiated by an individual private citizen or private organisation (such as a prosecution association) instead of by a public prosecutor who represents the state. Private prosecutions are allowed in ...

s are very rare in Scotland and these require "Criminal Letters" from the High Court of the Justiciary. Criminal Letters are unlikely to be granted without the agreement of the

"Not proven" verdict

The Scots legal system is unique in having three possible

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

s for a criminal

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

: "

guilt Guilt most commonly refers to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music * ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims * "Guilt" ( ...

y", " not guilty" and "

not proven Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and "not guilty").The Scottish criminal jur ...

". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an

acquittal In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal means that the criminal prosecution has failed to prove that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charge presented. It certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an of ...

. The 'not proven' verdict in modern Scots criminal law can be described as an historical accident. Historically, there were no set forms for verdicts used by early juries, and their role was simply to find the guilt or innocence of the accused. The role of the jury changed when it became customary in the Justice Court to compose lengthy indictments, where facts were listed which culminated in a statement of the punishable character of such conduct in general of which the accused ought to be punished for his commission of it. In these situations the role of the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

was to deliver one of the 'special verdicts' of "proven" or "not proven" for individual factual issues one-by-one. It was then left to the judge to pronounce upon the facts found "proven" whether this was sufficient to establish guilt of the crime charged. This practice persisted until the 1728 trial of Carnegie of Finhaven, where the jury's right to return a verdict of not guilty, and essentially pronounce on innocence and guilt, was re-established. By the 19th century, the legal profession had come to view these 'special verdicts' as obsolete, and yet the "not proven" verdict continued to be used. The 'not proven' verdict is often taken by juries and the media as meaning "we know they did it but there is not enough proof". The verdict, especially in high-profile cases, often causes controversy. A study was commissioned in September 2017) by academics at the Universities of Glasgow and Warwick, in collaboration with Ipsos Mori, to consider, among other things, the three verdict system in Scotland in order to inform future reform of the criminal justice system in Scotland.

List of current offences

Crimes against the person

*Murder *

Culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the homicide (illegal killing of a person) either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a pa ...

(comparable to the offence of manslaughter in English law) * Corporate homicide (

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to broaden the law on corporate manslaughter in the United Kingdom. The Act created a new offence respectively named ...

) *

Assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

(can be charged in an aggravated form while still being considered to be the same offence) * Stouthrief and hamesucken (assault while trespassing within the victim's home, in the former case as part of a burglary) *Culpable and reckless injury *Culpable and reckless endangering of the public *Uttering threats (''MacKellar v Dickson'' (1898)) *Sexual offences (see

Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 The Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. It creates a code of sexual offences that is said to be intended to reform that area of the law. The corresponding legislation in England and Wales is the ...

and Sexual offences in Scotland) *Stalking (Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, s. 39)

Crimes of dishonesty

*Theft, which can be aggravated **Theft by housebreaking **Theft by opening lock-fast places ("OLP") (also, opening or attempting to open a lock-fast place with intent to steal) *Offences under the

Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (c. 45) is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament which makes provision for a wide range of civic government matters. Effects of the act Parts I and II of the act deal with licensing by local authoriti ...

: **s. 57 – Being within a premises with the intention to commit theft **s. 58 – convicted thief in possession of articles from which an intent to steal may be inferred *Embezzlement (or breach of trust and embezzlement) *Robbery *Piracy, both at common law and under the law of nations *Hijacking *Fraud *Forgery, with the requirement of

uttering Uttering is a crime involving a person with the intent to defraud that knowingly sells, publishes or passes a forged or counterfeited document. More specifically, forgery creates a falsified document and uttering is the act of knowingly passing on ...

(i.e. use as if it was genuine), see ''Burke v MacPhail'' *Numerous statutory frauds *

Reset Reset may refer to: Film and television * Reset (2015 film), ''Reset'' (2015 film), a 2015 French documentary film * Reset (2017 film), ''Reset'' (2017 film), a 2017 Chinese film * Reset (2024 film), ''Reset'' (2024 film), a 2024 Sri Lankan sh ...

(possession of stolen goods) and the related statutory offences *

Extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

*Unsolicited goods and services, see Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 *

Bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

(principally of a judicial officer), see

Bribery Act 2010 The Bribery Act 2010 (c. 23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law relating to bribery. Introduced to Parliament in the Queen's Speech in 2009 after several decades of reports and draft bills, the act re ...

and the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...

*Electoral offences under the

Representation of the People Act 1983 The Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the British electoral process in the following ways: * Amended the Representation of the People Act 1969 (c. 15). * Stated that a ...

* Stouthrief

Crimes against property

*Trespass on heritable property ( Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865) * Malicious mischief, whether riotious and wilful or intentional and reckless *Offences under the

Explosive Substances Act 1883 The Explosive Substances Act 1883 ( 46 & 47 Vict. c. 3) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It makes it illegal to use (or conspire or intend to use) any explosive substance to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause ...

Vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...

(

Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 The Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to consolidate certain enactments creating offences and relating to the criminal law of Scotland. Part I - Sexual Offences ...

, s.52) *Fire-raising, whether wilful or culpable and reckless *Cruelty to animals (

Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 11) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. It received Royal Assent on 11 July 2006. The Act consolidated, repealed and replaced many other pieces of legislation, such as the Protection of A ...

) *Sinking and destroying a ship with intent to defraud insurers (common law). Also offences under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 *

Plagium Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor (a child under the age of legal adulthood) from the custody of the child's natural parents or legally appointed guardians. The term ''child abduction'' includes two legal ...

(child-stealing, considered to be an aggravated form of theft)

Crimes relating to public order and morality

*Abortion *

Mobbing Mobbing, as a sociological term, refers either to bullying in any context, or specifically to that within the workplace, especially when perpetrated by a group rather than an individual. Psychological and health effects Victims of workplace mo ...

(previously mobbing and rioting) *

Breach of the peace Breach of the peace or disturbing the peace is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public order England, Wales and Norther ...

, more commonly labelled as "threatening or abusive behaviour", see

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...

, s.38 *Violation of sepulchres *Public indecency *Indecent exposure *Sexual exposure (

, s.8) *Bigamy *Perjury *Attempt to pervert the course of justice *Escaping from lawful custody (

Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 (asp 8) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament. This legislation merged the eight separate police forces and fire and rescue services in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, ...

, s.91) *

Contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

Miscellaneous statutory offences

*Road traffic offences (see Road Traffic Act 1988, Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, among others; the

Highway Code ''The Highway Code'' is the official set of information and guidance for road users in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to promote the safe and efficient use of the road network. The Code applies to al ...

cites legislation where it mentions offences) *Controlled and prohibited substances (

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (c. 38) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It represents action in line with treaty commitments under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the ...

and

Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to restrict the production, sale and supply of a new class of psychoactive substances often referred to as "legal highs". The bill was given R ...

) *Offences relating to alcohol licensing and licensed premises (

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

) *Police obstruction or assault (

)

Former offences

*Concealment of pregnancy *Clandestine injury to women (i.e. sex with an unconscious woman)Abolished by the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009. *Lewd, indecent or libidinous practice or behaviour *Sodomy *Shameless indecencyReplaced with the offence of public indecency under

, s.81. *Offences under the Forgery of Foreign Bills Act 1803 (repealed)

Defences

Diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental funct ...

* Special defence

Significant cases

*'' Brennan v HM Advocate'' 1977 JC 38 – authority against automatism in cases of voluntary intoxication *''

Cadder v HM Advocate ''Cadder v HM Advocate'' 010UKSC 43 (26 October 2010) is a decision in which the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom held that the way in which police in Scotland detained suspects was not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights a ...

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest ...

UKSC 43 – not being permitted access to a solicitor while in police custody was a breach of Article 6(1) of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

*'' Cawthorne v HM Advocate'' 1968 JC 32 *'' Crawford v HM Advocate'' 1950 JC 67 *'' Drury v HM Advocate'' 2001 SCCR 538 – provided modern definition of murder *''

Jamieson v HM Advocate ''Jamieson v HM Advocate'' is a notable legal case which established a precedent in Scotland which held that a man does not commit rape where he honestly, albeit unreasonably, believes his victim is consenting. This was a criminal case decided ...

'' 1994 SLT 537 *''

Khaliq v HM Advocate ''Khaliq and Anor v HMA'' was a Scottish criminal case brought in 1983 and decided by the High Court of Justiciary sitting as the Court of Criminal Appeal, in which it was decided that it was an offence at common law to supply materials that w ...

'' 1984 JC 23 *'' Ross v HM Advocate'' 1991 JC 210 – first authoritative recognition of non-insane automatism *''

Smart v HM Advocate ''Smart v Her Majesty's Advocate'is a Scots criminal law case relating to consent as a defence to assault. The High Court of Justiciary held that if the assault was made with an evil intent, consent could not negate it. The case saw the accu ...

'' 1975 JC 30 *''

Sutherland v HM Advocate Sutherland () is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Viking era when the area was ruled by the Jarl of Orkney; although Sutherland includes some of the northernmos ...

'' 1994 SLT 634 *'' Moorov v HM Advocate'' 1930 JC 68 – admissibility of similar fact evidence – established a precedent named the Moorov doctrine