Harassment

If your partner approaches you or contacts you repeatedly then they may commit an offence. The incidents must be related (so they become a course of conduct), not two isolated incidents. The further apart the incidents are, the less likely there is to be an offence of harassment. However, all the circumstances of the incident will be taken into account when determining if an offence has been committed.

If the incident involves your partner or ex partner then this will be dealt with as a domestic abuse incident.

If the manner of their conduct causes you alarm, annoyance or disturbance then this could constitute an offence. Any instances of unwanted contact which cause the aforementioned results should be reported to the police.

If you feel that you are being harassed and you want to involve the police then you should contact Police Scotland by dialling 101 and they will take details. If there are any threats of violence towards you, you should inform them, and they will treat the matter with greater urgency.

If you don't want to involve the police, you can see a solicitor who can, if necessary, begin civil proceedings. If your claim succeeds you may be awarded damages and/or an interdict. If there are any threats of violence then you are always advised to involve the police.

The word harassment is deliberately not defined in the legislation so can cover a wide range of activities (see Related Information). The behaviour must cause alarm, distress or torment. The incidents must be related and must not be two isolated incidents. The further apart the incidents are, the less likely there is to be an offence of harassment. However, all the circumstances of the incident will be taken into account when determining if an offence has been committed.

The law takes into account the "reasonable person" test. Basically, this means that if it was felt that a person of reasonable firmness (i.e. the average person on the street) would not be alarmed or distressed by the behaviour, an offence is not committed. The offender must also be aware that the course of conduct they are pursuing would cause the victim to be alarmed or distressed.

If you don't want to involve the police, you could see a solicitor who may begin civil proceedings; if your claim succeeds you may be awarded damages and/or an interdict.

Example:

A lives at number 2 and B lives at number 4, there is a dispute over a fence. A keeps going round to B's house to complain about this every night for a fortnight. B is fed up and is beginning to feel distressed about A's constant visits. A is aware that his behaviour will cause distress to B as he is hoping to wear him down into removing the fence.

The above is for harassment without fear of violence. Harassment with fear of violence is a person whose cause of conduct causes another to fear on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against him/her and who knows that his/her behaviour will cause fear of violence on each of the occasions is guilty of an offence.

The incidents must be related (i.e. a course of conduct) and must not be two isolated incidents. The further apart the incidents are, the less likely there is to be an offence of harassment.

The law takes into account the "reasonable person" test. Basically, this means that if it was felt that a person of reasonable firmness (i.e. the average person on the street) would not fear violence, the offence is not committed.

Example:

A and B are neighbours and A is upset over a fence. A goes round to B's house every night for a week threatening violence to B and damage to the fence if B does not take the fence down. B fears violence, as A is very aggressive in manner. A is aware that his behaviour is aggressive and is hoping to intimidate B into taking the fence down.

If you feel that you are being harassed and you want to involve the police then you should contact Police Scotland by dialling 101 who will take details. If there are any threats of violence towards you, you should inform the police who will treat the matter as a higher priority.

If you receive two or more nuisance e-mails/texts that are non-violent in nature, this could amount to an offence of harassment (defined below). The word "harassment" does not have a legal definition, but the words alarm, distress or torment, are the best words used to describe it.

The incidents must be related and must not be two isolated incidents. The further apart the incidents are, the less likely there is to be an offence of harassment. However, all the circumstances of the incident will be taken into account when determining if an offence has been committed.

The law takes into account the "reasonable person" test. Basically, this means that if it was felt that a person of reasonable firmness (i.e. the average person on the street) would not be alarmed or distressed, the offence is not committed. The offender must also be aware that the course of conduct they are pursuing would cause the victim to be alarmed or distressed.

Example:

A and B were partners, A finishes the relationship but B is not happy. B sends 30 e-mails/texts over the course of a week begging A to reconsider. A is distressed by this course of action. Note, however, if A was not distressed and ignored the e-mails/texts, then no offence of harassment would have occurred.

If you believe you have suffered this type of harassment, there are two possible ways of dealing with it. You can contact the police who will pursue the matter or alternatively, you can pursue it yourself through the civil courts.

If you feel that you have suffered from harassment and would like police involvement, please contact Police Scotland by dialling 101.

It depends on what type of incident you are reporting. This area of law is very complex so the following is a basic guide only (as there are exceptions).

Road Traffic Incidents -

• Reportable road traffic collisions (see questions in related information for more details) have to be reported as soon as practicable or within 24 hours in any case. Some forces may not take a report of a road traffic collision after a specified amount of time.
• Minor road traffic incidents have to be prosecuted so therefore reported within 6 months (e.g. failing to wear a seatbelt)
• For serious road traffic incidents, there is no time limit when these can be reported/prosecuted (dangerous driving).
• Please note that a collision only needs to be reported if it is a reportable road accident.

This question is relevant whether you live in the UK and are a victim of crime elsewhere or whether you live in other parts of the world and believe you are a victim of a crime committed in the UK.

You need to make a report to the police in your own country. You should not make the report direct to the police in the country where you think the crime has happened as the request must be from a recognised law enforcement authority.

Depending on the type of crime it may be that the actual offence has happened in your country but the suspect lives in another country. There are official procedures that must be followed when investigating international crime which mean that you must report the matter to your local police/law enforcement agency first.

If the crime is theft, criminal damage, theft from motor vehicle, vandalism or hate crime or incident and you are certain that it has happened in the United Kingdom then you can report the crime online, see the website in related information.

If you are still in the country where the crime occurred then you should make a report to the local police. It is only when you are not in the country where the crime occurred that the above applies.

Cyber-flashing is the sending of obscene pictures to others over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi networks, such as AirDrop.

AirDrop is a feature on iPhones, iPods and iMacs that uses Bluetooth to create a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi network between devices. When switched on, it automatically detects supported devices within a radius of 10 metres. Although AirDrop can be used in a harmless way as it allows people to share photos with family and friends, some people are using the facility to send obscene pictures to strangers, usually whilst they travel on trains or buses. This can take place anywhere where there is a Wi-Fi signal.

The victim receives an obscene picture on their device with a message request to accept it from the sender. The victim can see the picture whether or not they accept. This may cause the victim to be distressed and embarrassed, making them feel vulnerable, as they do not know who or why the person sending the photo has targeted them.

Section 6 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 provides that it is an offence to cause a person to look at a sexual image without their consent – see related information.

If you receive an obscene picture from a stranger in this way, whilst you are travelling on the rail network, take a screenshot of the photo and report the incident to the British Transport Police – Scotland.

In order to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of cyber-flashing over AirDrop, you can turn Airdrop off on your iPhone when you are not using it:

1 Go to Settings > General > AirDrop
2 Choose the option – Receiving Off

This will stop your device receiving AirDrop requests.