{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/victims-and-witnesses-scotland-act-2014/section-9A",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/victims-and-witnesses-scotland-act-2014/section-9A.json",
  "legislation": "asp/2014/1",
  "legislation_title": "Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2014",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/victims-and-witnesses-scotland-act-2014",
  "path": "section/9A",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "9A",
  "heading": "Victims’ right to protection during criminal investigations",
  "text": "(1) During a criminal investigation into an offence or alleged offence, the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland must ensure that—\n(a) a relevant interview is conducted without undue delay after a complaint about the offence or alleged offence has been made to a constable,\n(b) the number of relevant interviews is kept to a minimum,\n(c) relevant interviews are carried out only where strictly necessary for the purposes of the criminal investigation,\n(d) during a relevant interview, the person who is or appears to be a victim in relation to the offence or alleged offence is permitted to be accompanied by the person’s chosen legal representative and a person of the person’s choice, unless a constable makes a reasoned decision to the contrary, and\n(e) medical examinations of the person who is or appears to be a victim in relation to the offence or alleged offence are kept to a minimum and are carried out only where strictly necessary for the purposes of the investigation.\n(2) In this section, a “relevant interview” means an interview of a person who is or appears to be the victim in relation to an offence or alleged offence conducted or arranged by a constable for the purposes of a criminal investigation into the offence or alleged offence.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Ss. 9A-9C and cross-heading inserted (23.12.2015) by The Victims' Rights (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (S.S.I. 2015/444), regs. 1(2), 13"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/1/section/9A",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T20:14:19.581799+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}