This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Discussion on High Court reform
15/01/2004
High Court reforms now going through the Scottish
Parliament must be implemented and tested before the
Executive could consider increasing Scotland's complement
of permanent judges, Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said
today.
Ms Jamieson has been in discussion this week with the
Faculty of Advocates over concerns that workloads and the
role of temporary judges are undermining Scotland's
judiciary.
The Minister confirmed that the number of permanent
judges in Scotland now stands at a record-level.
Ms Jamieson said:
"Over the last five years the Scottish Executive has
invested heavily in giving our courts and our prosecution
service the resources needed to step up the efficiency and
effectiveness of justice.
"Hand in hand with that has been the development of a
strong partnership with Scotland's judiciary - reflecting
the vital role they play in delivering justice. With
Executive investment and support, there has been a 20 per
cent increase in the number of permanent judges - the
highest number of permanent High Court judges in Scotland
ever.
"We are not complacent. Where there are particular
problems within the courts - we need to be able to adopt a
flexible approach to deal with them. For example, the
unacceptable delays in the Appeal court. Remember, the
numbers of appeals heard in 2002 was the lowest for a
decade.
"Clearly justice was not being served by these delays
and that is why I responded to requests from the Lord
President to add to the pool of temporary judges - allowing
the Appeal Court to clear the backlog of cases, and reduce
the continuing delays. As I said at the time of the
announcement last October, this was a 'one-off' initiative.
"It has been suggested to me by the Faculty that we
should act now to recruit more permanent judges. As we have
shown, we will act to increase the judicial pool when and
where it is necessary. However, I do not believe that this
is the right time for such a move.
"We are currently taking through Parliament radical
legislation to address the problems in our High Courts.
Through the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill
we will:
- increase the sentencing powers of sheriffs to five
years which will see more cases being sent to our sheriff
courts, freeing up High Court time to deal with our most
serious cases.
- bring greater efficiency to our High Courts through
the judicial management of cases and the introduction of
preliminary hearings - ending the culture of repeated
adjournments and delays which wastes the time of judges,
victims and witnesses.
"In short, we propose reforms that will reduce the
number of cases our High Court judges will be asked to deal
with by up to 20 per cent, together with less uncertainty
and hassle for the remaining 80 per cent of cases. Against
that backdrop, this is not the right time to bring in extra
permanent judges. I want to see those changes implemented
and tested before reviewing the overall complement of
permanent judges.
"Let me also be clear about temporary judges
themselves. These are very experienced and respected
individuals recommended to Ministers by the Lord President
himself. I have already indicated that I see a case for the
Judicial Appointments Board having a role in the
appointment of temporary judges to make this process as
open and accountable as the appointment of our full time
judges and sheriffs.
"The Faculty has this week expressed their
reservations that, as a result of measures such as this,
the number and role of temporary judges may be undermining
the 'character and status' of the justice system. I want to
reassure them that embedding an ever-increasing number of
temporary judges in the Scottish justice system is neither
an overt nor a covert ambition of this Executive."
In 1999 the number of judges rose from 27 to 32 to
help counteract the effect of losing judges to the
Lockerbie trial and the Paddington rail inquiry. Those
judges have now returned and the number has remained at
32.