REVIEW OF THE PRACTICES AND PROCEDURE OF THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY I am writing to let you have a copy of the Hon Lord Bonomy's Report of his 2002 Review of the Practices and Procedure of the High Court of Justiciary. The Deputy First Minister has published this Report today and has announced to the Scottish Parliament that he is launching a wide ranging consultation exercise to obtain the views of the judiciary and of organisations with an involvement or interest in the criminal justice system, as well as the public generally, on the proposals. Lord Bonomy has of course already consulted widely in the course of preparing his Report and has had the benefit of a Reference Group representing a number of key interests. We welcome the Report and believe that it forms the basis for a substantial improvement in the efficiency of the High Court, but, before moving to implementation, we wish to consult more formally. As indicated in the Report, Lord Bonomy has tried to devise a coherent scheme to bring greater certainty into the criminal trial process, and to reduce the inconvenience and distress caused to the public. There are 3 main strands to the scheme - altering the jurisdictional boundaries between the High Court and the sheriff court, in order to ensure that the High Court concentrates on serious crime, modernisation of the '110 Day Rule', and the introduction of mandatory preliminary hearings and fixed trial dates into the High Court, in order to limit the need for adjournments. While primary legislation is already on the statute book to alter the jurisdictional boundaries, the other main strands would require primary legislation to implement. We are particularly interested in your views on this package of proposals. Lord Bonomy has made a number of other related recommendations, and has also made proposals on matters such as witness citation, evidence, the location of the High Court, court administration and timetabling, legal aid, social enquiry reports, the use of technology and the role of the judiciary. Some of these can be implemented by administrative action and wherever possible the Executive will implement non-controversial proposals in advance of primary legislation. For example, in relation to recommendation 2(f), resources are already being made available to the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service to improve the precognition process. Officials of the Justice Department would be very pleased to meet your organisation before you respond to the consultation. If you would find that helpful Mrs Moira Ramage will be happy to assist you and can be contacted on 0131 244 2458. As well as general comments on the Report, we would be interested in any detailed comments on the individual recommendations in Chapter 20. If you wish to do so, you may use the electronic form on the Scottish Executive website http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/justice/rppj-28.asp to record your response. In addition you can e-mail your response to bonomy.consultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk. An Executive summary of the Report, prepared by the Justice Department, is also available on the website. You can also obtain a hard copy of the Questionnaire by contacting Moira Ramage at the above number. Hard copies of responses may be posted to: Mrs M Ramage
Scottish Executive
Justice Department
Criminal Procedure Division
1WR
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG In accordance with normal practice, consultation responses will be made available to the public. However if you wish your response, or any part of it, to be kept confidential, please indicate this clearly and it will be respected. The consultation period extends to 11 April 2003. Yours sincerely MRS M BRANNAN |