Justice Crisis: Court closures, job losses and no part-time sheriffs if budget cuts go ahead

Following last week’s Criminal Justice Committee pre-budget evidence session where the police and fire services outlined the grave situation facing them if proposed financial cuts in the resource spending review come to pass, this week the committee will hear from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS, and the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).

SCTS said in its submission to the committee that, in order to balance the budgets, Sheriff summary and civil court sitting days would need to be reduced by 25 per cent, all part-time sheriff provision would be removed, staff numbers would need to be cut by about 180 and three to four court buildings would need to be closed.

As a result, there is a risk that complainers and witnesses may disengage from the court process before cases reach court, with increased stress and anxiety.

There would also be increased time on remand due to delays in cases calling and increased bail applications – leading to further case churn, inefficiency and downstream impact on prison capacity.

“The current financial outlook poses risks to the provision of access to justice in Scotland” SCTS said.

COPFS said the cuts would prevent entirely the implementation of Lady Dorrian’s Review of the Management of Sexual Offence Cases and the review of the investigation and prosecution of sexual offending led by Susanne Tanner KC.

It said: “It will be impossible to implement the improvements from both reviews without the necessary resource to provide enhanced training, pre-record evidence at scale and to the required standard and to investigate and present cases in a way which meets and overcomes the challenging evidential issues.”

“The proposed RSR flat cash funding allocation falls well short of the funding essential for COPFS to meet its statutory obligations to deliver justice. A flat cash allocation over the period of the RSR represents a significant reduction in real terms to the essential resource funding needed.”

John Logue, the Crown Agent, told MSPs there was “no viable scope” for further cuts to Crown Office services. “There is no viable scope for stopping or scaling back any specific or significant activifurther ty without increasing risks to communities and the loss of public confidence in the Scottish justice system,” he said.

Mr Logue added: “The current service staffing levels are the minimum essential for managing case levels and complexity of our case work, and for tackling the backlog of cases. The Crown Office is facing a funding gap of £19.2m in 2023/24, rising to £25m the year after, before returning to £20.5m by 2026/27.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We have a strong track record on court investment in recent times, which has had a positive impact on backlogs, demonstrating that we continue to prioritise these services where possible.

“Our justice recovery fund of £53.2m in 2022/23 included funding of £26.5m to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) to maintain enhanced court capacity to respond to Covid backlogs. In addition, we have allocated a further £4.2m to the SCTS resource budget, a 3.5 per cent increase.

“But whilst we will do all we can, our largely fixed budgets and limited fiscal powers means we need the UK government to take urgent action to support those in need, and to provide the Scottish government with the funding we need to support public services and the economy in these difficult times.”