Domestic Abuse Act (Scotland) of 2018

Scotland’s domestic abuse legislation came into force on April 1, 2019.  The statute defines domestic abuse broadly, including both psychological (“fear, alarm and distress”) and physical harm directed to a partner or an ex-partner.  See Section 1.  The statute defines a “partner” as a spouse or civil partner, a person with whom one lives as a spouse, or person with whom one is in an “intimate personal relationship.”  Section 11.2.  Abuse is “violent, threatening, or intimidating” behavior that may consist of controlling a victim’s daily activities, causing the victim to become subordinate or dependent on the perpetrator, isolating the victim from friends or family, depriving or restricting a victim’s actions, or frightening, humiliating, degrading, or otherwise punishing the victim.  See Section 2.  Furthermore, the abusive behavior does not need to take place within the United Kingdom—the statute contains an extraterritoriality clause covering such conduct occurring partly or wholly outside the country.  See Section 3.  In addition to criminalizing abusive behavior directed at a partner or ex-partner, the statute is “the only UK legislation with a specific statutory sentencing aggravation to reflect the harm that can be caused to children growing up in an environment where domestic abuse takes place.” Indeed, a victim’s child under the age of 18 is specifically included as a potential additional victim of abuse.  See Section 2.2.b.  The aggravation can be applied both in cases where abusive behavior is directed at a child, and in scenarios where a child “sees or hears, or is present during, an incident of behavior that A directs at B as part of the course of behavior.”  Section 5.3.  The Domestic Abuse Act has been lauded by the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre as a “welcome change” that “should increase the opportunity [for victims] to obtain protection and seek justice through the criminal justice system.”