Justice reforms unveiled

Angela Constance

The Vision for Justice Delivery Plan published today also includes actions to address “long-standing challenges in the system faced by victims of sexual offences”, and the continued modernisation of the prison estate.

Reforms planned up to March 2026 include:

• the introduction of a Misogyny Bill to create new offences related to misogynistic conduct
• continued modernisation of the prison estate, including opening HMP Highland and starting building work on HMP Glasgow to replace Barlinnie
• the national roll-out of a system to digitally transform how evidence is managed across the justice sector, benefiting victims and witnesses by supporting quicker resolution of cases
• expanding the availability of mediation services in civil disputes to save people time, stress and money

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “This Delivery Plan maps out further actions to reform, modernise and strengthen the justice system so it better meets the needs of victims, reduces reoffending, and ensures rates of offending continue to be at historic lows.

“The reforms are bold and wide-ranging – they include action to better protect women and girls, improve services for children and prevent and reduce crime through early intervention.

“The Vision sets out our transformative vision for the justice sector, and this updated delivery plan, which has been approved by our justice partners, shows the significant process that has been made so far.

“This includes the introduction of the Victims, Witnesses and Criminal Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill – which, if passed, will put victims and witnesses right at the heart of the justice system, and the creation of Bairns’ Hoose test sites to ensure a range of trauma-informed support is available to child victims and witnesses of abuse and harm.

“At the heart of all this work is our determination to build a trauma-informed and person-centred justice system in which individuals and communities can trust.”