By David Bol

Copyright scotsman

MSPs are poised for a historic vote to remove the not proven verdict from Scotland’s legal system when the Scottish Government’s Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reforms (Scotland) Bill is considered. The crunch vote was originally tabled for Tuesday at 10pm. But with more than 100 amendments to be considered by MSPs, the final and potentially historic moment has been moved to Wednesday afternoon. The Scotsman analyses just what is covered by the legislation. A campaign to abolish Scotland’s third verdict has been ongoing for some time – and the Scottish Government officially began moves to axe the judgment in 2022. Then first minister Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs at the time that abolishing not proven would be “a change of truly historic significance in Scotland”, adding it is “one firmly intended to improve access to justice for victims of crime”. READ MORE: MSPs warned not to ‘cheapen guilty verdict’ as not proven to be scrapped amid jury majority fears Not proven, which has the exact same impact as a not-guilty verdict in being an acquittal, is used disproportionately in rape cases, with concerns raised it is impacting justice outcomes survivors and victims. What else is proposed in the Bill? To counter claims that moving to a binary system could increase the likelihood of a miscarriage of justice occurring, SNP Justice Secretary Angela Constance has tabled altering the simple majority juries in Scotland need to convict to two thirds. But concerns have been raised by Rape Crisis Scotland this could worsen Scotland’s already-woeful conviction rate for rape amid a soar in reports of sexual violence. Initially the Government wanted to reduce jury sizes from 15 to 12, but that was shelved due to a lack of support. READ MORE: Labour in hypocrisy row after ‘wrecking amendment’ tabled to block sexual offences court Plans are also on the table for a specific sexual offences court to be set up, in what the Scottish Government said would improve experiences for victims and help clear Scotland’s huge backlog of criminal trials. The legislation, if approved, would also see the establishment of a Victims and Witnesses Commissioner and reforming the Victim Notification Scheme. Why were the juryless rape trial plans dropped? The Scottish Government was forced to drop controversial plans to pilot juryless rape trials due to a lack of support from MSPs. Six SNP MSPs, including Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, rebelled over the proposal at the first stage of voting and the Scottish Government agreed to remove the proposal from the legislation. What do opposition parties think? While all parties support the removal of the not proven verdict, some opposition MSPs have concerns about some of the other proposals. Labour has argued against a special sexual offences court being set up, and instead wants the court set-up to accommodate a more tailored approach to sexual offences. READ MORE: Rape survivor behind campaign to scrap not proven verdict tells MSPs to end ‘harrowing process’ The Conservatives have had their proposed amendment agreed by the Scottish Government for victims in solemn cases having a right to be pro-actively informed by the prosecutor if a plea adjustment has been agreed. But an appeal to make revealing the remains of a murder victim a requirement before parole has been rejected by SNP ministers over fears it “could lead to parole board decisions being more vulnerable to legal challenge”.