Outgoing judicial complaint’s reviewer admits service is ‘poor’

Scotland’s outgoing Judicial Complaint’s Reviewer has complained that she provides a “poor service” because of the role’s limitations and an absence of support.

Gillian Thompson has called on ministers to reassess the job’s “relevance”.

The JCR deals with complaints against justices of the peace, sheriffs and judges.

The news comes as Justice Secretary Michael Matheson appointed Ian Gordon, a retired deputy chief constable of Tayside Police, as Ms Thompson’s successor.

The JCR’s role is to review, when asked, the handling of a complaints investigation into members of the judiciary and to ensure that it has been dealt with in accordance with The Complaints About the Judiciary (Scotland) Rules 2016. The JCR has no powers to consider the merits of any complaint or the disposal of the complaint.

In reports published on her website, Ms Thompson pointed out that she cannot adequately serve complainants under her current contract, which only sees her work three days per month.

“I remain of the view that managing a demand-led service within a restricted number of days inevitably means delay in responsiveness and inevitable concern and inconvenience for complainants.”

She added: “The singleton nature of the role together with the limited number of contracted days results in a poor service, relatively speaking.”

Ms Thompson also said she only gets limited access to the relevant paperwork during her reviews: “I see only what is shared with me about the handling of complaints. In cases where an investigation is carried out by the disciplinary judge I do not automatically get access to all papers.”

As for the future of the post, she said: “I recommend that Scottish ministers review the relevance of the role as it exists”.

“My feeling is that whilst I improved on the time taken to review cases I still did not provide a level of service that complainants expected,” she added.

In addition, she has been unable to take phone calls. She said: “A planned upgrade to the Blackberry provided by the Scottish government has resulted in my being unable to take telephone calls. That situation is ongoing as I write.”

Scottish Conservative MSP Liam Kerr said: “If even the JCR herself doesn’t think she’s doing a good job, what’s everyone else supposed to think? In fairness, her honesty is refreshing and is to be commended. She has been in place for some time and the remarks she makes are scathing both about the role itself and the support offered by the Scottish government.”

Scottish Labour MSP Claire Baker said: “The JCR is scathing of her role and firmly places the fault for this with the Scottish government who have dramatically underfunded an important role which they created. It is clear that the JCR is not being provided with the necessary resources to do her job in the best interests of the public.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We welcome the publication of the Judicial Complaints Reviewer annual reports for 2014-15 and 2015-16. The role of the JCR is vital in independently reviewing the handling of complaints against members of the judiciary, remaining separate from both the Judicial Office for Scotland and the Scottish government.”

Judicial Complaints Reviewer Annual Report 2015/2016 ​