Law Society raises concerns with Lord President as spectre of weekend courts looms – again
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Amanda Millar
The president of the Law Society of Scotland has written to the Lord President to raise concerns over the introduction of weekend courts to resolve the criminal case backlog.
In a letter to Lord Carloway, Amanda Millar questioned why weekend and holiday courts were being considered without consultation.
“I am concerned that additional holiday court arrangements and weekend court trial courts are being introduced with no consultation.
“There is a need to establish whether the essential parts of the justice system, including prosecutors, defence agents, victim support, rehabilitation delivery agencies and beyond, are able to service such an increased workload,” she wrote.
She added that solicitors were “concerned about how sustainable the imposition of holiday courts or the introduction of potential weekend courts will be”.
Ms Millar warned that the move “risks severely damaging the resilience of a profession already scarred by the past 12 months”.
“Our members are also parents and carers and individuals with many responsibilities, as well as professionals with obligations to their employers, employees, clients, and the courts.
“Increasing the number of days on which their professional court obligations must take priority should not be undertaken lightly. There are practical implications too as holiday courts are not necessarily held locally, and may require travel time for agents to attend, making them more onerous than a normal court day.”
The plans were derided by lawyers in August last year, when they were first suggested.
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