Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

these facts do make the first witness’s evidence more likely to be true is amatter of judgment, upon which there can be disagreement, even amongst thejudiciary. Even then, it is not every fact which the law imbues with thiscorroborative characteristic. Although a statement made by a witness to athird party immediately after an incident 19 may, if proved, lend support to thatwitness’s veracity, a jury would be directed that, even so, it does not providecorroboration as it emanates from the same source (i.e. the same witness).Basic Principles7.2.14 The requirement for corroboration permeates the whole criminal justiceprocess from suspicion to conviction. It is not just a test adopted in court. Itsexistence means that, in respect of all crimes, however trivial, the prosecution,and hence the police, need to find corroboration unless the requirement isexcluded by statute. If corroboration is not found, except where the case is aparticularly serious one, it will not normally be reported to the procuratorfiscal and the case will therefore not be progressed. Of course, even whencorroboration is found, the investigative process does not suddenly stop. It isaccepted that, within reason and depending to a degree on the seriousness ofthe offence, the police will, or at least ought to, seek to find further relevantevidence. Once the case is reported and it is agreed that there is sufficientcorroboration in a technical sense, the procurator fiscal or Advocate Deputestill requires to consider whether it is in the public interest to proceed. Thiswill involve an additional element, notably the question of whether there is arealistic prospect of a conviction.19 “de recenti”261