Code of Practice - public consultation

The current Code of Practice was approved by Scottish Ministers and the Parliament before taking legal effect on 16 November 2022. The Code applies to Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner. At the time of writing, there have been no breaches of the Code and the bodies to whom the Code applies have achieved compliance through formal assessments conducted by the Commissioner in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

The Commissioner has written to the full list of statutory consultees for the Code as specified in Section 10 of the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner Act 2020 requesting their feedback on the proposed amendments to the Code of Practice. 

The updated Code will be published in the autumn and be presented to Scottish Ministers for approval under Section 12 of the Act. Once approved by Scottish Ministers, the updated Code will then require to be brought into legal effect by regulations made by the Scottish Ministers under Section 13 of the Act before replacing the current version.

Please find the schedule of proposed amendments to the Code -  schedule of proposed amendments to the Code of Practice

Please find the proposed amendments within the Code of Practice

If you would like to provide feedback please use our contact form or email contact@biometricscommissioner.scot

This public consultation closes - Friday 4 September 2026