Public decisions should survive public questions.

Scottish Police Law Index
LJLet Justice Be DoneQuestions before conclusions

Scotland first

LJBD / LAW / PUBLIC SOURCE MAP · Checked 1 August 2026

Find the law behind the label.

As checked on 1 August 2026, this project found no single free public Scottish equivalent to a current annotated police-law textbook. This index joins the strongest public sources by subject and states what each source cannot do.

The missing public database

The official recording standard refers to an internal legal database with no public interface identified here.

The Scottish Crime Recording Standard refers officers to the “Police Scotland Legal Database”. As checked on 1 August 2026, this project found no public search interface for it. That makes disclosure and source precision important: when a legal classification is relied upon, a layperson can ask for the offence, authority, elements, current source and recorded reasoning rather than accepting “the database says so”.

Read the official recording principles

Moriarty, then and now

The closest match is not Scottish.

The useful feature of a police-law desk reference is organisation by offence and topic. The weakness of every online substitute is either jurisdiction, cost, incomplete coverage, or lack of annotation.

Historic model

Moriarty's Police Law

A curated arrangement of offences, powers and regulations for working reference. The historical title explains the idea, not the current law.

View the bibliographic record ↗
Closest modern format

PNLD

A subscription database with legislation, common-law material, case summaries and offence wording. It serves England and Wales, so it is not a Scottish authority.

Check PNLD's own description ↗
Public Scottish answer

A source stack

Legislation.gov.uk, SCTS judgments, BAILII, the Session Cases Index, COPFS policy and Police Scotland's published procedures, joined here by topic.

Open the public source stack ↓

Databases and gateways

Know what you are searching.

A statute database, a judgment search, a law-report index and a prosecution policy answer different questions. No one result should be made to do the work of all four.

01Free official source

Legislation.gov.uk

The National Archives

Read Acts, Scottish Acts, statutory instruments, amendment notes and available revised text. Always check extent, status and the version selected.

Jurisdiction
UK, with extent shown for each provision
Open sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/
02Free public beta

Research Legislation

The National Archives

Explore the statute book as data using bulk downloads, a query builder and a words explorer. Use the main legislation site to read the provision itself.

Jurisdiction
UK legislation data
Open sourcehttps://research.legislation.gov.uk/
03Free official search

Scottish judgments

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

Search published judgments from 1999 onwards by keyword, court or publication date. Not every court decision is written or published.

Jurisdiction
Scotland
Open sourcehttps://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/judgments
08Free reported-case index

Session Cases Index

Scottish Council of Law Reporting

Search the index of cases reported in Session Cases from 1821. An index identifies reporting history but does not provide every full report free of charge.

Jurisdiction
Scotland
Open sourcehttps://sclr-index.scottishlawreports.org.uk/
12Subscription product

PNLD

Police National Legal Database

The closest modern match in format to a police-law desk reference, with offence wording, legislation and case summaries. It must not be treated as Scots law.

Jurisdiction
England and Wales, not a Scottish law source
Open sourcehttps://www.pnld.co.uk/Products-and-Services/

How to read the index

Start with the conduct, then identify the legal route.

Each topic separates a plain-language boundary from statutes, judgments, policy and official guidance. A source entry says what it supports and where caution is needed. It does not decide whether the legal test is met in a particular event.

01

Can the same facts create separate civil and criminal questions?

Civil dispute or criminal conduct?

Yes. Civil proceedings generally resolve rights, duties and remedies. Criminal proceedings determine alleged offences and possible punishment. The same event can engage both, but each route has its own elements, evidence and decision-maker.

LegislationScotland

Rent (Scotland) Act 1984, section 22

Legislation.gov.uk

Sets out criminal offences concerning unlawful deprivation of residential occupation and specified harassment connected with occupation.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/58/section/22
LegislationScotland

Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, section 36

Legislation.gov.uk

Provides a civil damages route for unlawful eviction in the circumstances defined by the section.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/43/section/36
02

Which route and which definition are being used?

Harassment, stalking and domestic abuse

Scotland has a civil action of harassment, a criminal offence of stalking, a criminal offence for breach of a non-harassment order, and a separate domestic-abuse offence. They overlap in vocabulary but not in their exact legal tests.

LegislationScotland only

Protection from Harassment Act 1997, section 8

Legislation.gov.uk

Creates the Scottish civil action of harassment, including possible damages and a non-harassment order where the statutory tests are met.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/section/8
JudgmentScotland

Moulds v Reid [2012] CSOH 13

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

A first-instance decision on mixed alleged conduct, pleading detail, identity, awareness and limitation in a section 8 claim.

Read the paragraph-led case note Open full sourcehttps://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/h1sh4z03/2012csoh13-ann-moulds-valexander-reid.pdf
LegislationScotland

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, section 39

Legislation.gov.uk

Sets out the statutory offence of stalking, including a course of conduct, fear or alarm, and the required state of mind.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/13/section/39
03

Why is there no single Scottish Assault Act to link?

Assault and violence

Assault is principally a common-law crime in Scotland. Its rules are found in case law, while statutes may create related offences, aggravations, powers and penalties.

JudgmentScotland

Kirkup v HM Advocate [2025] HCJAC 9

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

An appellate decision on intentional attack, the modern meaning of evil intent, consent and conduct with the potential to cause serious harm.

Read the paragraph-led case note Open full sourcehttps://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/0mxfqzvl/2025hcjac9-note-of-appeal-by-sean-kirkup-against-hma.pdf
Judicial summaryScotland

HMA v John Young: summary of oral remarks

Judiciary of Scotland

An official Judiciary of Scotland page summarising oral remarks in a first-instance examination-of-facts determination, including a short explanation of common-law assault.

Open full sourcehttps://judiciary.scot/home/sentences-judgments/judgments/2025/09/03/hma-v-john-young-determination-of-examination-of-facts
04

Is the allegation statutory, common law, or merely a description?

Threatening behaviour and breach of the peace

Section 38 and common-law breach of the peace are distinct offences. The words used in a report do not identify which test was considered, so ask for the offence, elements, evidence and recorded decision.

LegislationScotland

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, section 38

Legislation.gov.uk

Sets out the offence of threatening or abusive behaviour, its objective fear-or-alarm test, required intention or recklessness, and a reasonableness defence.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/13/section/38
JudgmentScotland

Smith v Donnelly, 2002 JC 65

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

A leading breach-of-the-peace decision describing the required seriousness: alarm to ordinary people and a threat of serious disturbance to the community.

Read the paragraph-led case note Open full sourcehttps://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/pqsh41of/cou1806-pamela-smith-vprocurator-fiscal-dumbarton.pdf
05

Does a property dispute answer whether damage may be criminal?

Property damage and vandalism

No. Ownership, authority, intention or recklessness, reasonable excuse, the act itself and the evidence must be considered separately from any repair, tenancy or ownership dispute.

LegislationScotland

Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, section 52

Legislation.gov.uk

Sets out the statutory offence of vandalism: wilfully or recklessly destroying or damaging property belonging to another, without reasonable excuse.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/39/section/52
06

Where can one set of facts produce both routes?

Housing harassment and unlawful eviction

Scottish housing law provides a concrete example. Defined conduct may be prosecuted as an offence while related facts may also support a civil damages claim or another housing remedy.

LegislationScotland

Rent (Scotland) Act 1984, section 22

Legislation.gov.uk

Sets out criminal offences concerning unlawful deprivation of residential occupation and specified harassment connected with occupation.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/58/section/22
LegislationScotland

Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, section 36

Legislation.gov.uk

Provides a civil damages route for unlawful eviction in the circumstances defined by the section.

Open full sourcehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/43/section/36
07

Which decision was actually made, and by whom?

Police recording, investigation and prosecution

An incident log, a crime-recording decision, an investigation decision and a COPFS prosecution decision are related but not interchangeable. Ask for the exact stage, test, decision-maker and record.

Case-law method

A case name is the beginning, not the conclusion.

  1. 01

    Check the court and date. A later or higher court may have changed, limited or distinguished the proposition.

  2. 02

    Read the issue actually decided. Facts in a judgment are not all rules of law, and a sentencing statement is not an appellate judgment.

  3. 03

    Use the full reasons. A headline, database snippet or summary cannot safely replace the judgment.

  4. 04

    Record the citation and link. Save the neutral citation, court, date, paragraph relied upon and source URL.

Known limitations

This index is deliberately honest about its gaps.

  • Not every Scottish decision is written or published.
  • Free databases do not contain every authorised law report or annotation.
  • Legislation can contain outstanding amendments or different commencement dates.
  • Common-law offences such as assault and breach of the peace cannot be reduced to one statute link.
  • A Police Scotland policy explains intended procedure but is not itself a statutory power.
  • PNLD is an England and Wales product and must not be treated as Scots law.
Search this index and the whole siteRead the research and correction method