On 19 September 2001, Jim Wallace (who was then the Minister for Justice) announced a review of the summary justice system with the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the operation and efficiency of summary justice in Scotland. Announcing the membership and remit of the committee on 30 November 2001 , Mr Wallace said:
"We want to promote a criminal justice system which is prompt and efficient. The great majority of criminal cases are dealt with in the summary courts and it is vital that they work well.
"We need to ensure that the structures we have in place take account of changes in law and changes in society. It is important to ensure that our courts meet public expectations of a modern, efficient and fair justice system.
"I am pleased that this review will be taken forward by a committee which can draw from a depth of expertise and wide range of interests involved in the provision of summary justice.
"The committee has a challenging remit and I look forward to receiving its recommendations for the more efficient and effective delivery of summary justice in Scotland ."
The 'Summary Justice Review Committee' was established, under the chairmanship of Sheriff Principal John McInnes . The 'McInnes Committee's' remit was:
"To review the provision of summary justice in Scotland, including the structures and procedures of the Sheriff Courts and District Courts as they relate to summary business and the inter-relation between the two levels of court, and to make recommendations for the more efficient and effective delivery of summary justice in Scotland."
The term Summary Justice can be defined as all criminal prosecutions not heard by a jury. Such cases account for apprximately 96% of all criminal prosecutions in Scotland .
The Committee met formally on 23 occasions. It published a first order consultation document on issues such as the use of lay and professional judges and jurisdictional boundaries between courts in March 2002. It visited a number of courts in both Scotland and other jurisdictions. It held a series of 'practitioner workshops' to test initial ideas on procedural and diversion matters in March 2003. Those workshops were followed up by meetings with individual organisations representative of criminal justice interests across Scotland to develop the Committee's findings. More detail on the work of the Committee can be found in its final report.
The Committee's report was published on 16 March 2004. It made recommendations on a number of significant issues, including the structure of the summary justice system and the procedures to be followed in the summary courts. In order to involve all interested parties and aid the Executive's consideration of the issues a consultation exercise was held between March and July 2004. An independent analysis of that consultation was published on 28 February 2005.
Following the Committee's report and the consultation process the Executive published their proposed reforms to the summary justice system in the 'Smarter Justice, Safer Communities' document, which was published on 22 March 2005. In order to deliver a number of the proposals in the Smarter Justice paper, changes to the law were required and the Executive took these forward with the introduction to parliament in February 2006 of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform)(Scotland) Bill. This Bill was passed by MSPs on 18 January 2007.