Woman and girls will be better protected and victims’ needs prioritised as part of reforms to improve justice services and create safer communities.
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.
Setting out an ambitious programme of reforms that are being taken forward to March 2026, the plan puts a fresh focus on early intervention to prevent and reduce crime to make communities safer.
The reforms build on the significant progress already achieved since February 2022, when the Scottish Government published the Vision for Justice - outlining a strategy to modernise, strengthen and improve the justice sector to ensure it meets the needs of all who use it.
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
MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Natalie Don, said:
“The Scottish Government’s 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.
“There is a specific focus on action to better protect women and girls, improve services for children and prevent and reduce crime through early intervention.
“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.
“These plans are all based on a determination to build a trauma-informed and person-centred justice system in which individuals and communities can trust.”