Swifter justice for West Lothian
30 May 07
Pilot project sees average disposal times drop from 21 weeks to eight
A pilot project in West Lothian has seen the average time taken from a suspect’s initial caution and charge to final determination drop from 21 weeks to eight.
The improvements were revealed in the final report of the West Lothian Criminal Justice Project released yesterday. The pilot, commissioned by Lothian and Borders Criminal Justice Board to try to improve the summary justice process, ran for 12 months from September 2005 to September 2006.
During that time the end-to-end time for cases marked for the sheriff court fell from 197 days to 94, and for non-court disposals from 100 days to 36.
Seventy per cent of all cases are now concluded within 13 weeks, tendering of pleas for first diets has risen from 50% to 83%, and submission of police reports within 28 days has risen from 57% to 83%.
All criminal justice agencies involved – Lothian and Borders Police, the Scottish Court Service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, West Lothian Council and the local bar association – analysed what they did, how they did it and how it related to the processes and procedures of partner agencies.
The results have been so encouraging that an extended pilot encompassing both the sheriff and district courts will now take place in Edinburgh.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill said: “Improving the way the criminal justice system operates must be about improving the experience for ordinary members of the public as well as the professionals.
“The West Lothian Criminal Justice Project is a welcome example of just such a constructive approach.
“The project has proved to be of benefit to victims and witnesses - the people we need to keep foremost in our minds when designing and implementing court reforms. The challenge for us all is to work together to improve the courts at a local level all across Scotland.”
The chair of Lothian and Borders Criminal Justice Board, Sheriff Principal Edward Bowen QC, said that those who had taken part in the pilot were confident about the changes to the system and did not want to return to the previous way of doing things.
The project board was chaired by Colin Peebles, Director of Corporate Services at Lothian and Borders Police, who said: “What this has achieved is swifter justice and a more efficient process which benefits the whole. The number of scheduled appearances is also reduced and that reduces the demand on prosecutor, defence lawyers, police and courts staff.”