Criminal law in Scotland

Well designed and user friendly site which contains information about the criminal prosecution system in Scotland, victim support assistance, news, the text of various reports, policies, statistics and management plans (under ”Publications”).  Useful and interesting material.

Attractive website for the national police force. Nice features include the ability to download the local policing plans and priorities for each local area, and to report crime (or complain about the police) online. The "Youth Hub" section for 5-19 year olds is actually not bad, either and includes Police Scotland's corporate parenting policy.

Website of the Public Defence Solicitors' Office, which – albeit in fairly brief terms – explains who they are and how to find them. The "for clients" section allows you to send documents securely to a PDSO office via the website.

Very useful site explaining what the Commission does, links to cases it has been involved with (some links not working when last visited), explanation of legal issues that have arisen and annual reports.  The research reports are also worth a look.

Information on the Scottish Prison Service and its prisons.  The site is divided into four sections: Corporate, Families, Careers and People affected by crime.  There is a lot of useful information under each section, including details of the Family Contact Officers and information on the Victim Notification Scheme.

Explains in fairly simply terms what witnesses can expect when reporting a crime or if called to give evidence in court. Includes information on protections available for vulnerable witnesses. Also contains information aimed at victims of crime explaining in basic terms how the criminal justice system works and the victim’s role in it.  Includes the Victims' Code for Scotland, available in several community languages.

This site explains the work of Victim Support and helps to put people in contact with their local branch. It also has a fairly extensive resource library online with relevant documents from Victim Support and other agencies to download.

Signposting for support and information is organised by the type of crime that a web user may have been affected by, including things like human trafficking, hate crimes, stalking, and forced marriage. Includes information specifically for witnesses and young victims of crime.