Editing Not proven (section)

{{Short description|Scots law verdict}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Criminal procedure (trial)}}

'''Not proven''' ({{Langx|sco|No pruiven}}, {{Langx|gd|gun dearbhadh}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/naidheachdan/18862121|title=Adhbhar tubaiste fhathast gun dearbhadh|date=16 July 2012|publisher=BBC}}</ref>) is a [[verdict]] available to a [[Courts of Scotland|court]] of law in Scotland. Under [[Scots law]], a [[Criminal procedure|criminal trial]] may end in one of three verdicts, one of [[conviction]] ("guilty") and two of [[acquittal]] ("not proven" and "not guilty").<ref name="Duff">''[https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1129&context=lcp The Scottish criminal jury: A very peculiar institution]'', Peter Duff, 62 Law & Contemp. Probs. 173 (Spring 1999)</ref><ref name="In3V"/>

Between the [[Restoration (Scotland)|Restoration]] in the late 17th century and the early 18th century, [[jury|jurors]] in Scotland were expected only to find whether individual factual allegations were proven or not proven, rather than to rule on an accused's guilt.<ref name="sln">{{cite news|url=https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/blog-no-not-proven-did-not-come-first|title=Blog: No, 'not proven' did not come first|date=29 September 2017|access-date=29 October 2018|last1=Chalmers|first1=James|last2=Leverick|first2=Fiona|work=[[Scottish Legal News]]}}</ref> In 1728, the jury in a murder trial asserted "its ancient right" to declare a defendant "not guilty".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barbato|first=Joseph M.|year=2004|title=Scotland's Bastard Verdict: Intermediacy and the unique three-verdict system.|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/iicl15&div=25&id=&page=|journal=Ind. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev.|volume=15|issue=3|pages=543–582|doi=10.18060/17848|doi-access=free}}</ref> Over time, the "not guilty" verdict regained wide acceptance and use amongst Scots juries, with the encouragement of defence lawyers. It eventually displaced "not proven" as the primary verdict of acquittal. Nowadays, juries can return a verdict of either "not guilty" or "not proven", with the same legal effect of acquittal.<ref name="borrowed">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35527022|title=Not proven verdict 'on borrowed time', say MSPs|publisher=BBC|date=9 February 2016|access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref>

Although historically it may be a similar verdict to not guilty, in the present day not proven is typically used by a jury when there is a belief that the defendant is guilty but [[The Crown]] has not provided sufficient evidence.<ref name="belief">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-jury-research-fingings-large-mock-jury-study-2/pages/8/|title=Scottish jury research: findings from a mock jury study|date=9 October 2019|publisher=Scottish Government}}</ref> Scots law requires [[Corroboration in Scots law|corroboration]]; the evidence of one witness, however credible, is not sufficient to prove a charge against an accused or to establish any material or crucial fact.

In Scotland, there have been attempts to abolish what [[Walter Scott|Sir Walter Scott]] famously called ''that bastard verdict''.<ref name="BBC News 2007">{{cite web | title=Plea for 'not proven' abolition | publisher=BBC News | date=28 March 2007 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/scotland/6500541.stm | access-date=16 October 2021}}</ref> In 1827, Scott, who was sheriff in the court of [[Selkirk, Scottish Borders|Selkirk]], wrote in his journal that "the jury gave that bastard verdict, ''Not proven''.<ref name="Scott Douglas 2013 p. 361">{{cite book | last1=Scott | first1=W. | last2=Douglas | first2=D. | title=The Journal of Sir Walter Scott: Volume 1: From the Original Manuscript at Abbotsford | publisher=Cambridge University Press | series=Cambridge Library Collection – Literary Studies | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-108-06429-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbg0AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA361 | access-date=16 October 2021 | page=361}}</ref>

It is proposed to remove the not proven verdict as part of a 2023 judicial reform.<ref name="reform">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65397235 |title=Not proven verdict to be scrapped in Scottish courts |date=2023-04-26 |accessdate=2023-04-30 |language=en-GB |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>