Courts streamline with justice reforms
District courts becoming JP courts as part of summary justice changes
A new species of court comes into being in Scotland today, to coincide with the completion of the summary justice reform programme.
Beginning with Lothian & Borders, and phasing in sheriffdom by sheriffdom, district courts run by local authorities are being replaced with JP courts run by Scottish Court Service.
The lay justice courts in Lothian & Borders coming under SCS responsibility from today, with Grampian, Highland & Islands sheriffdom scheduled to follow in June.
The timetable for the remaining sheriffdoms is: Glasgow, December 2008; Tayside, Central & Fife, February 2009; South Strathclyde, Dumfries & Galloway, June 2009; and North Strathclyde, October 2009.
The summary justice reforms, described in a Journal Online item on 7 March, include extended powers in procurators fiscal to deal with cases without taking them to court, and a new system of fines enforcement officers to reduce the percentage of fines that go unpaid.
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