Appearing before Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee yesterday, she said that as many as 500 officers are taken away from their duties every day to appear in court, with most not even giving evidence.

She said that only 15 per cent of officers who are called give evidence and that overtime costs the force £3 million.

“Officer numbers are really important, but the capacity to investigate crime, to keep the people of Scotland safe, to support victims, is an issue of great focus for me and the whole executive,” she said.

“The demands by the criminal justice system is one of the largest elements that saps away the capacity of policing in Scotland. It takes away 500 officers per day to go to court, on many occasions not giving evidence – many, many occasions.”

She added: “In order to maximise the front line of policing, in order to deliver all of the things that we need to, we must collectively, as a system, as leaders in the system, make sure that the criminal justice system works more efficiently.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) said: “The judiciary and SCTS have been at the heart of criminal justice reform in scotland. these reforms have included the evidence of the police and professional witnesses being taken remotely, without the need for them to attend court. It has also included the victims of sexual offences giving their evidence well in advance of and at a place which is remote from courtroom.

“The success of these initiatives relies upon co-operation. Action by the Police and Crown to tackle delays in the disclosure of evidence and to improve the citation of witnesses is likely to have a impact on the unnecessary adjournments of trials and repeat citations of witnesses.”