Glasgow Bar Association expresses ‘significant concerns’ over proposed abusive behaviour offence

In its response to Holyrood’s Justice Committee, the GBA said that while it supported the aims of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill it had “significant concerns that the perceived benefits of the proposed offence have to be balanced against the very real risk of over-criminalisation”.

It added: “We recognise the damaging effects of domestic abuse upon families but believe that any measures to improve the response of the criminal justice system to domestic abuse should also recognise the impact which a conviction for domestic abuse may have upon the partner and family of a convicted person.

“A conviction, leading to disclosure implications and the subsequent loss of employment and diminished employment opportunities could have long term financial implications for the family unit and we would welcome research in this area. We have concerns even within the existing framework of domestic prosecutions about the very wide range of behaviours in the context of domestic relationships which have been criminalised and about issues of proportionality which have arisen We are concerned about the very wide scope of the proposed offence and the very wide range of behaviour which would potentially be caught by the legislation.”

The GBA added it thought “physical abuse and indeed incidents of threatening and abusive behaviour” can already be prosecuted under current legislation, in particular, sections 38 and 39 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 as well as the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm Scotland Act 2016.

Read the full submission here