ETI-23
Response
Under Consideration
Criminal Sanctions for Misleading Information
Recommendation
In addition to civil liability from any sanction introduced in accordance with Recommendation 22, Scottish Ministers should consider whether there is need for a statutory criminal offence involving strict liability once it is established that information or reports were misleading by reason of false statements or omission of relevant facts.
Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- In November 2023, the Scottish Government stated it was "giving careful consideration" to the recommendations about criminal statutory offences for misleading evidence, noting that existing remedies may already exist (Transport Secretary Statement on Edinburgh Tram Inquiry Report, Scottish Government, 2 November 2023).
- No published decision on whether to introduce a statutory criminal offence of strict liability for submitting misleading information or reports has been identified to March 2026.
- No published decision on whether to introduce a statutory criminal offence of strict liability for submitting misleading information or reports has been identified to March 2026.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Under Consideration
Response
Under Consideration
Under Consideration
Scottish Government
02 Nov 2023
The Scottish Government stated it is 'giving careful consideration' to recommendations about civil damages provisions and criminal statutory offences for misleading evidence. The Government noted that existing remedies may already exist under delictual liability and fraud law. Source: Transport Secretary Statement, 2 November 2023.
Responsible Bodies
Scottish Government
Primary
Themes & Tags
Recommendation age
2.8 yrs
Last formal update
942 days ago