Scotland’s criminal courts are benefiting from a transformative new case management process – which has led to over 100,000 fewer police officers called to give evidence.
Approximately 3,000 fewer children were called to give evidence as a result of the national rollout of a ‘summary case management’ initiative.
The roll out of the case management initiative to all Sheriff Courts in Scotland has been ‘instrumental’ in reducing the number of scheduled trials, according to the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service.
The scheme, led by Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar KC, was piloted initially in Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley Sheriff Courts, and later rolled out to Glasgow and Perth Sheriff Courts for domestic abuse cases.
Across the 19-month trial, which commenced in 2024, the programme has led to a 47% reduction with first witness citations and re-citations are down 59%, compared to September 2022.
More trials now proceed on the scheduled day, with fewer adjournments to new trial dates, with adjourned trials falling from 40% to 27%, as a result of earlier disclosure, focused preparation and improved case management.
Figures recently published by SCTS show the number of scheduled trials in summary Sheriff Courts across Scotland has fallen to 9,000 from over 30,000 during the pandemic. Domestic abuse trials also fell from a peak of 7,685 to 2,005 (a 74% reduction) and now sitting 30% below the historic baseline of 2,978.
The new approach has also been aided by the introduction of a national Digital Evidence Sharing Capability platform, to share evidence more effectively and quickly between justice agencies, including police and courts.
Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar KC said: “The key to success of the rollout lies firmly in collaboration at a local and national level. It has been a pleasure to work with so many willing partners across the justice sector to deliver a shared vision of a modern summary criminal justice system.
“SCM does not simply represent an efficiency gain. It represents a change of culture. Early communication, meaningful engagement between prosecution and defence and proactive judicial case management have replaced delay and uncertainty. It is a significant improvement in how justice is delivered in the summary criminal courts.”
Justice Secretary Neil Gray said: “This report shows that more victims, including those who have experienced domestic abuse, are receiving justice quicker as a result of summary case management. By reducing unnecessary trials and resolving cases earlier, it is freeing up time for police officers and the courts, and sparing victims and witnesses from having to appear in court to give evidence.
“I welcome the national rollout of summary case management, supported by the Scottish Government’s world-leading Digital Evidence Sharing Capability programme, which enables digital sharing of evidence from crime scene to courtroom, bringing cases to conclusion more quickly.”
