This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Pioneering justice project progresses
08/10/2001
A world-leading, hi-tech programme which will increase
the speed, accuracy and efficiency of the criminal justice
system completed its first phase today.
Justice Minister Jim Wallace and Solicitor General Neil
Davidson were in Aberdeen to mark the completion of the
first phase of the Integration of Scottish Criminal Justice
Information Systems (ISCJIS). The programme will connect
the computer systems of criminal justice organisations in
Scotland so that they can more easily share and exchange
information.
The police, the Crown Office, the Scottish Court Service
and the Scottish Criminal Record Office are now connected.
District Courts will be the next to join with a trial
having begun at Aberdeen District Court at the beginning of
September and the rest to follow.
The Ministers visited Grampian Police HQ, Aberdeen
Sheriff and District Courts and Aberdeen Procurator Fiscal
Office.
They also heard about a pilot project at Aberdeen and
Stonehaven District Courts which selects the best date for
police officers to appear in court as witnesses. The
Procurator Fiscal puts the police officers numbers into the
ISCJIS computer which looks at shift patterns, leave and
other commitments before identifying potential trial dates.
The aim is to save the time officers spend hanging around
in court and ensure that there are enough officers
available for front-line duties.
Mr Wallace said:
"We've known for many years that the efficiency of the
criminal justice system could be improved if information
was more easily and accurately shared. However, up until
now most information has been exchanged on paper, despite
all the organisations having their own computer
systems.
"ISCJIS is linking all these individual computer systems
to create on unified network. The benefits are already
apparent. For example, computers at Aberdeen and Stonehaven
Sheriff Courts now taking into account the most convenient
day for police officers to appear in court when setting a
trial date.
"But improving the speed with which the criminal justice
system shares information is not just useful for the
Courts, Crown and Police. There could be real knock-on
benefits for the public in reducing the time it takes for
cases to be dealt with and information supplied to
them.
"As far as we can see Scotland is leading the world in
this hi-tch programme.
"Another spin-off of the ISCJIS project has been the
enhanced spirit of co-operation it has created in the
criminal justice system.
"Not only have some of the physical barriers between the
Courts, Crown and Police been removed, but some of the
bureaucracy has as well. Here in Aberdeen I have heard
about the benefits.
"I believe we are well on the way to building a strong
sense of a larger Scottish Criminal Justice Community, with
a shared objective of an efficient justice system where the
interests of the public come first.
"That fits very well with the Executive's commitment to
greater openness and fairness in the justice system and it
is good to see the North East being at the forefront of
these developments."
BACKGROUND
The ISCJIS Project Board was formed in 1994 to
co-ordinate work on a more systematic and automatic
transfer of data between the computer systems of criminal
justice organisations. The Board initially comprised of the
police (ACPO(S)), Crown Office/Procurator Fiscal Service,
Scottish Courts Administration, Scottish Prison Service and
Scottish Criminal Record Office. The Board has since been
joined by representatives of the District Courts, Scottish
Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA), and Scottish
Legal Aid Board, DVLA, Association of Directors of Social
Work, with the Central Computer and Telecommunications
Agency and Home Office also represented.