It was hugely disappointing to read of the survey undertaken by Shared Parenting Scotland which showed a number of family cases were being dealt with by multiple sheriffs.

Those of us who pioneered the Family Court initiative in Glasgow 25 years ago held as a central tenet of the scheme that the same sheriff would deal with the case throughout. It meant consistency and ability to alter things if previous arrangements had not succeeded. It is also disappointing that the Gill Reforms have still not had the desired effect of case management by a single sheriff to whose docquet the case is directed.

In Glasgow we found that four sheriffs were sufficient to deal with the family cases. It should not be beyond the court managers to make similar arrangements in smaller courts so that there is that degree of consistency which we envisaged. This was part of our mission statement.

The Glasgow Family Court initiative seeks to remove family cases from the adversarial theatre of traditional court techniques. The principle is that resolution of these cases can best be sought by negotiation, discussion and a sympathetic and conciliatory approach by the bench. A dedicated team of four sheriffs deals so far as possible with all cases in which it is thought that this approach might be appropriate.

A particular sheriff is designated to each case and remains with the case until it is resolved or it is necessary to seek other resolution methods. Furthermore that sheriff is available to deal with future problems that may arise even after apparent resolution.

Is it not possible to implement this principle?

Yours in anticipation rather than hope,

Graham Johnston