- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
There are outstanding changes not yet made by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team to Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995. Any changes that have already been made by the team appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):
(1)Proceedings in respect of an offence under section 1 [F2or 2] of this Act may be brought on indictment or, if the Lord Advocate so directs, on a summary complaint before the sheriff.
(2)Summary proceedings in pursuance of this section may be commenced at any time within the period of 6 months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the Lord Advocate to justify the proceedings comes to his knowledge.
(3)Subsection (3) of section 136 of the M1Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (date of commencement of summary proceedings) shall have effect for the purposes of subsection (2) above as it has effect for the purposes of that section.
(4)For the purposes of subsection (2) above, a certificate of the Lord Advocate as to the date on which the evidence in question came to his knowledge is conclusive evidence of the date on which it did so.
(5)Subject to subsection (6) below, a person guilty of an offence under section 1 [F2or 2] of this Act shall be liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for any term of imprisonment up to and including life imprisonment; and
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months.
(6)Before passing sentence on a person convicted of any such offence, the court shall—
(a)obtain information about that person’s circumstances from an officer of a local authority or otherwise and consider that information; and
(b)take into account any information before it which is relevant to his character and to his physical and mental condition.
(7)In subsection (6) above, “local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(2) of the M2Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.
Textual Amendments
F1S. 4: words in section title substituted (1.12.2010) by Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (asp 9), ss. 61(1), 62(2), sch. 5 para. 1(3); S.S.I. 2010/357, art. 2(a)
F2Words in s. 4(1)(5) substituted (1.12.2010) by Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (asp 9), ss. 61(1), 62(2), sch. 5 para. 1(2); S.S.I. 2010/357, art. 2(a)
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1S. 4(2)-(4) applied (5.10.2005) by Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 13), ss. 319, 333; S.S.I. 2005/161, art. 3 (as amended by S.S.I. 2005/375, art. 2)
Marginal Citations
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: