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Diversion from prosecution

Sometimes the Procurator Fiscal (PF) will give you the opportunity to enable you to accept support from Justice Social Work or partner agencies in order to reduce future offending instead of progressing your case through court.  If you are offered this opportunity by the PF you will have to give your agreement for it to progress.  You can say no and the PF will progress your case to court.

An assessment will be undertaken by a member of staff from Justice Social Work who will discuss with you what areas in your life need to be addressed and whether or not you would be suitable for Diversion.  If you are assessed as suitable then you will be asked to agree to a programme of work with Justice Social Work or other agencies to address the issues that led to your offending.  This will normally be for a period of 3 months but can be longer depending on your needs.

Following completion of the Diversion period a report will be sent back to the Procurator Fiscal who will then decide how to proceed with your case.  This may mean no further action is taken.  If you do not engage with the programme then the Procurator Fiscal may decide to proceed with the court case.

Structured Deferred Sentence

A structured deferred sentence aims to provide support to you following conviction and prior to final sentencing. They are generally used for those with a range of complex needs that may be addressed through social work and/or other support agencies, but without the need for a court order. A structured deferred sentence also offers you the opportunity for Justice Social Work services and other key services to directly provide and tailor support to you.

Structured deferred sentence is used in a variety of ways:

  1. It can provide flexible and effective support which can help you stop becoming further drawn into the justice system. 
  2. Or it can be used if there is concern about your compliance with court orders in the past and the court wants to further assess your attitude and ability to comply with community based supervision prior to final sentencing.
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