Proposals for far north court shake-up prompt angry backlash
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CAITHNESS will lose jury trials and its Justice of the Peace Court if new plans being set out by the Scottish Court Service (SCS) are given the go-ahead.
If given the green light, the proposals put out for public consultation on Friday, would mean Caithness jurors face a 200 mile-plus round trip to Inverness while the JP Court cases would be merged into the criminal proceedings at Wick Sheriff
Court.
Views are being sought on the mooted changes, which also include the closure of 11 sheriff courts around the country.
Local MSP Rob Gibson is urging the court service to be cautious with the money-saving proposals.
"I will urge Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to tread carefully with court closures," said Mr Gibson.
"The Government needs to measure the carbon footprint of forcing witnesses, victims and accused persons to travel, especially in winter conditions.
"I believe that the SCS has to treat the Highlands and Islands as a special case."
According to the consultation document, all trials heard under solemn procedure – those done with a jury of 15 members of the public – will be centralised to 16 mainland courts. In Wick’s case that would mean jurors selected from Caithness making the long haul to Inverness. Currently, facilities for sheriff and jury trials are available in 47 of the 49 sheriff courts.
Another of the proposals is to "disestablish" Wick’s JP Court and channel all summary criminal business through the local sheriff court. The report states that since 2008, the JP Courts at Wick, Stornoway and Portree courts have a very small caseload. This level is "insufficient to justify the cost of maintaining a JP court in these areas" according to the SCS. JP courts at Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Annan, Irvine and Motherwell are also to close as these towns have no sheriff court.
The move has been slammed by the Law Society of Scotland which claims that court closures will reduce access to justice for many people.
"Public spending is under increasing pressure and we fully understand the need for the court service, like all parts of the public sector, to reduce operating costs and save money," said society president Austin
Lafferty.
"However, we don’t believe that the measures proposed today, will necessarily achieve that – and could well lead to a long-term decline in access to our justice system." Included in the list of 11 sheriff courts earmarked to close are Dornoch and Dingwall.
SCS executive director Eric McQueen said that with massive budget cuts from the Scottish Government in the next few years, the status quo is not an option.
"We accept that having fewer court buildings, as proposed, will impact on travel distances for some people and the consultation paper sets out the likely impact of the proposed changes," said Mr McQueen.
"For most people, attending court is a rare experience and future court services will seek to reduce this requirement through greater use of technology and online services."
Mr Gibson said this raised the issue of bringing the courts into the 21st century to make sure justice can still be seen to be done in rural areas such as Caithness.
"The need for foolproof teleconferencing, the need to assess where it is best to keep court complexes and the distance issues all need attention," he said.
"A robust case must be made to protect access to justice but the public should also be aware that crime is at a 32-year low and so services need to adapt to modern conditions which do not require those cited to attend court to travel huge distances to get justice."
Highland Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon is urging far north communities to put forward their views during the three-month consultation.
"These proposed changes require careful consideration, especially in the north of Scotland where the presence of a local court can save time and money, which is why I am keen that local people have their say," she said.
"As the Scottish Court Service itself accepts, court closures will impact on travel time and this could lead to trials being delayed.
"We have to ensure measures which are aimed at saving money do not end up costing resources as justice is delayed."
The measures also moot the idea of a new salaried judicial office. A summary sheriff would sit below the rank of sheriff and deal with summary criminal cases, summary cause and small claims litigation and some other civil matters, including family cases – potentially meaning that the resident sheriff at Wick could remain focussed on criminal and procedure at the level at which they are used
to.
The consultation closes on December 21. A copy of the full paper is available at: http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/consultations/index.asp/
