News In Focus
5 September 2008
Summary justice reform success, claims Angiolini
A total of 30% more cases have been dealt with the by the sheriff courts in July of this year compared with March, according to the Lord Advocate.
In a letter to Holyrood’s Justice Committee and the Law Society of Scotland, Elish Angiolini says the latest figures provide evidence that the summary criminal justice system is working better as a result of the reforms introduced earlier this year.
In her letter, she said: “For too long, justice in our summary courts has been delayed and frustrated by the system itself. My greatest frustration has been the lack of focus on ensuring that cases which require to go trial do so quickly and are well prepared by all parts of the system.”
As a result of the improvements:
- 30% more cases were disposed of by the sheriff courts in July 2008 than in March 2008 – up from 5,400 to 7,000;
- 44% more cases were disposed of in the sheriff court at the earliest opportunity, the pleading diet, in July than in March – up from 2,700 to 3,900;
- Police officers are dealing with more cases "on the spot" using fixed penalties for antisocial behaviour – reports from the police to procurators fiscal have fallen by 11% in the year to July 2008;
- Prosecutors are taking action in more cases – up from 86% of all cases reported in the three months before summary justice reform to 88% in the first three months since.
The Lord Advocate cautions that the information is less than a week old and care must be taken at this stage of the reforms to avoid placing too much weight on early statistics. "However, in the face of concerns about the impact of the reforms, it is telling that all of these indicators point to summary justice reform beginning to deliver the improvements predicted in the system model which was published in 2007."
More cases
The figures also indicate that more cases are now being prosecuted in the justice of the peace and district courts, now empowered to deal with a wider range of road traffic offences. Prosecutions in these courts have increased from 24% of all prosecutions to 26% in the three months of the reforms. The use of direct measures has also risen from 35% of all prosecution decisions to 37% in the same period.
The letter goes on: “Most significant of all, in my opinion, is the indication that the greater use of the new justice of the peace courts to deliver local justice and the use of the new direct measures to deliver swift and effective justice is having an impact on the effectiveness of the sheriff court which deals with our more serious cases.”
The statistics show that by disposing of an additional 1,200 cases at the pleading diet in July 2008 – the highest level of cases ever disposed of at the very beginning of the case – the criminal justice system has avoided the need to cite over 2,000 witnesses for these cases.
In addition, more than 1,000 police officers will not have to complete paperwork in preparation for a trial or come to court to give evidence. Prosecutors can now devote more time to preparing for cases called in July that still require to go to trial.
Justice for communities
The letter concludes: “Most importantly of all, given the increasing speed with which the police and prosecutors are bringing these cases to court, communities have seen justice delivered swiftly in an additional 1,200 cases instead of waiting another 12 to 18 months.
“At the same time, procurators fiscal continue to prioritise the prosecution of serious crime. The number of cases in which we prosecuted persons appearing in custody in the sheriff court has remained constant throughout the reforms. In addition, the first three months after the start of summary justice reform saw us take petition proceedings against an average of 933 people per month, an increase of 9% over the preceding three months.
“I am pleased with these very early indications of success and hope they will go some way to building confidence in the changes.”