An Evaluation of The Protection From Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001
SUMMARY
1. Chapter 1 begins with an overview of domestic violence and abuse. It outlines both the background and the provisions of the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001. This includes an overview of the legal provisions which were in place prior to the Act, namely, the common law interdict, the matrimonial homes interdict available under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 and the non-harassment order available under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
2. Chapter 2 describes the aims and objectives and methodology of the research project.
3. Chapter 3 examines the nature and extent of the violence and abuse perpetrated by defenders upon pursuers and some of the ways in which these behaviours are both construed and explained. In order to do this we present data from 4 separate sources - qualitative and quantitative data from both civil and criminal court records, women's questionnaires and interviews with professionals.
4. In Chapter 4 we consider all the cases processed by the four sheriff courts in the 3 month period prior to the date when the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 came into force (6 February 2001). We compare the four courts across the following 11 baseline measures - biographical characteristics of defender and pursuer; nature and length of relationship between pursuer and defender; number of biological and 'other' children; number of craves per application; number of incidents reported in each application; number and types of applications sought; number and types of applications seeking power of arrest; number and types of applications granted; number and types of applications not granted; number and type of application granting power of arrest, and number and type of applications refusing power of arrest.
5. Chapter 5 is divided into 2 related sections. In section A, we consider all the cases processed by the four sheriff courts in the 4 month period after the date the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 came into force (6 February 2002). We compare the four courts across the same 11 baseline measures used in Chapter 4. In section B, we consider the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 in more detail by focusing specifically on the same 92 cases analysed in the previous section but from a different perspective: rather than analysing the cases in relation to the individual sheriff courts, we examine them as two distinct groups.
6. In Chapter 6 we present qualitative data obtained from postal questionnaires completed by victims of domestic abuse who may be seeking/or have sought legal protection and interviews with 18 professionals working in the legal arena. We designed questionnaires and interview schedules around the following themes which are examined in this chapter - experiences of pre- Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 legislation (common law interdicts, matrimonial homes interdicts, protection from harassment orders); knowledge, understanding and experience of the new legislation; views on a range on on-going issues, specifically interim orders, powers of arrest, legal aid and, the interaction of civil and criminal responses to domestic violence, all of which are examined in this chapter.
7. Chapter 7 examines breached civil protection orders. 13 breached non-harassment orders, 2 breached interdicts with power of arrest granted under the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 and 1 breached interdict with a power of arrest granted under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981, are considered. Responses by police, procurators fiscal and the punishment given upon conviction are described. The effectiveness of civil protection orders is considered within the context of the response by criminal justice agencies to breached orders.
8. Chapter 8 presents the conclusions of the study.
9. Annex 1 contains a copy of the Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001.