Panel Chair: Domestic Homicide & Suicide Reviews for Change

Domestic Homicide and Suicide Reviews (DHSRs) are a new type of review in Scotland, established by the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews Act 2025. Domestic homicide and suicide reviews aim to identify what lessons can be learned and applied following a death where domestic abuse is known or suspected, in order to help prevent future abuse and deaths.

They are not investigations into how someone died and are not about apportioning blame; instead, DHSRs are fundamentally about identifying where changes and improvements can be made for the future as well identifying good/ safe practice and giving a voice to those who have died.

In Scotland, following a determination by the Review Oversight Committee or the Scottish Ministers that a domestic homicide or domestic abuse related suicide review is to be undertaken, the Review Oversight Committee will establish a Case Review Panel. Each review will be led by a Case Review Panel Chair drawn from a pool of Chairs. The Reviews will be comprised of a multi-agency review panel and experts in specific subject matter as required.

Each Case Review Panel will be supported in its functions through a secretariat of an independent team within Scottish Government. We estimate that the average number of DHSRs will be in the region of 20 per year.