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Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

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Annex A⎯ The numbers of cases which are never reported to the Procurator Fiscal by thepolice due to lack of evidence is unknown. As data is not gathered on this, byeither the Police or COPFS, the proportion of cases not reported because of noevidence at all compared to cases with insufficient evidence is not clear.⎯ Although it is fairly straightforward to establish whether there would be atechnical sufficiency in the absence of a requirement for corroboration,applying a qualitative test is a much more difficult exercise. This requiresgreater use of discretionary <strong>and</strong> qualitative judgment both by COPFS staffinvolved in case marking <strong>and</strong> by police officers investigating cases.⎯ The test applied in this research was whether there was a ‘reasonable prospectof a conviction’.⎯ All serious sexual offences are reported to the COPFS National Sexual CrimesUnit where they are considered prior to being placed on petition.377

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