FOI/201900005133 · FOI · unclear
Section 12 of the Young Persons Act 1937 prosecutions: FOI release
Information requested
You asked for information on prosecutions (Guilty/Not Guilty/Not Proven or Not Called) under Section 12 of the Young Persons Act 1937 over the past 10 years ie. 2008-2018 inclusive.
Response
The information is provided in the following table.
Number of people proceeded against in Scottish courts under the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 Section 12*, 2008-09 to 2017-18.
PNGA or deserted Acquitted not guilty Acquitted not proven Charge proved Total 2008-09 26 12 - 162 200 2009-10 25 11 3 124 163 2010-11 27 12 - 145 184 2011-12 18 10 1 153 182 2012-13 30 8 2 114 154 2013-14 31 13 2 124 170 2014-15 29 15 5 130 179 2015-16 24 6 3 124 157 2016-17 26 17 2 106 151 2017-18 12 14 3 92 121
* - where main crime Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database
Please note: Information for 2018-19 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2018-19 Statistical Bulletin. This is planned to be published in December 2019.
You may be aware that the Scottish Government have committed to bring in new legislation to update the provisions in section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937: cruelty to persons under 16. Updating the 80-year-old law is essential to reflect our modern understanding of the impact of emotional abuse and neglect, as well as physical harm.
In a consultation which ran from August to November 2018 we asked for views on proposals to modernise the criminal offence of child cruelty, set out in section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, including whether emotional and psychological harm should be included within the scope of the offence. We published an analysis of responses to the consultation in September 2019 and are carefully considering the responses to inform next steps in this complex and sensitive area of the law. We plan to undertake further engagement with the third sector and other key stakeholders as we develop and refine the proposals.
About FOI The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Enquiry Unit Email: ceu@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
Information requested You asked for information on prosecutions (Guilty/Not Guilty/Not Proven or Not Called) under Section 12 of the Young Persons Act 1937 over the past 10 years ie. Number of people proceeded against in Scottish courts under the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 Section 12*, 2008-09 to 2017-18. You may be aware that the Scottish Government have committed to bring in new legislation to update the provisions in section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937: cruelty to persons under 16. In a consultation which ran from August to November 2018 we asked for views on proposals to modernise the criminal offence of child cruelty, set out in section 12 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, including whether emotional and psychological harm should be included within the scope of the offence.
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