Pre-trial Rights Of The Accused In Scots Law
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The legal system in Scotland grants certain
rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
to persons accused in criminal proceedings.


Right to retain a personal copy of the complaint document

At all times the accused has the right to retain a copy of the complaint document. The complaint document is marked CITATION and is sent out by the procurator fiscal, the Scottish body responsible for prosecutions.


Right to request precognition interviews of prosecution witnesses

The purpose of a
precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...
interview is to establish what a witness will say in response to prosecution and defence questions at trial. The accused may request for Police Scotland officers to be precognised.Police Scotland:Police Officer Precognitions
at official website. Accessed 16 August 2015


Right to request precognition of defence witnesses

People who would be helpful for the defence of trial may be requested to provide a precognition interview via the defence solicitor.Victims of Crime:Precognitions
at official website. Accessed 16 August 2015


Right to call defence witnesses to trial

The accused has the right to request for the defence solicitor to call defence witnesses to trial.


Right to have access to crown witness statements

Some solicitors will email the crown witness statements in full. Other solicitors might provide summary versions of these statements.


Right to serve a "Statement of uncontroversial evidence"

The accused may serve a statement of uncontroversial evidence on the procurator fiscal and the court. A defence solicitor can undertake this on the accused behalf. If the procurator fiscal does not respond the evidence in the statement is taken as proven for the purposes of the trial.Scot Courts:Statement Uncontroversial Evidence
at official website. Accessed 16 August 2015


Right to change defence solicitors

If a defence solicitor does not provide legal advice or refuses to undertake requested precognitions, the accused has a right to change solicitors.


Right to complain to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC)

If a solicitor refuses to undertake precognition interviews for the defence of the case the accused has a right to complain to the Scottish Legal Complains Commission.SLCC:Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
at official website. Accessed 16 August 2015


See also

*
Corroboration in Scots law The importance of corroboration is unique to Scots criminal law. A long-standing feature of Scots law, the requirement for corroborating evidence means at least two independent sources of evidence are required in support of each crucial fact befo ...
* Moorov v HM Advocate * Cadder v HM Advocate


References

{{Reflist


External links


The work of precognition agents in criminal cases
Scottish criminal law