Summary Justice Reform

Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to The Scottish Parliament on Thu 6th Dec 2007

Alison McInnes: Of course I, too, fully endorse the desire to speed up the summary justice system and ease the process for victims and witnesses, but I also endorse the idea that access to the justice system needs to be available to everybody in Scotland.

Following the passing of the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007, the Scottish Court Service made a number of recommendations on court unification in the Grampian, Highland and Islands sheriffdom. Mr MacAskill recently endorsed those plans, which signalled the closure of the local district court in Inverurie. From 2 June, the business that would have been heard in Inverurie will be transferred to Aberdeen city, which will leave Grampian without a court to serve the rural area.

The simple fact that the population of Aberdeenshire is steadily increasing while that of Aberdeen city is on the decline seems to have been overlooked when the decision to close the court in Inverurie was taken. More and more people are moving away from the city to rural areas, and Inverurie is becoming a new centre for local services. However, as a result of the decision, people will be forced to travel back into the city to attend court, often when there is heavy traffic on the roads. Many people will be forced to rely on infrequent and unreliable public transport. The decision also apparently ignores the recent trend in the court business: as the consultation paper showed, far from steadily declining, court business has climbed back in recent months to the level at which it was five years ago. It is likely that it will rise further still with more people moving to the region.

In the minister's most recent reply to my representations on the matter, he informed me that

"new JPs will be appointed to serve Grampian Highland and Islands as a whole but it is our intention that when possible JPs from a local area will handle business from their own local areas, so that they can bring their local expertise to bear."

Grampian, Highland and Islands sherrifdom's area is very large, so it is likely that that approach will prove not only to be impractical. As I have pointed out to the minister, several local justices who currently sit in Inverurie have said that they would not want to transfer to the Aberdeen court. The change will deprive the justice system of a wealth of local knowledge and experience, and surely the same trend will be seen with future recruitment. How many people from rural Aberdeenshire will be willing to serve as JPs knowing that they will have to trek across the region to do so?

The minister also informed me that

"This should also make reporting local cases in local newspapers easier."

I, for one, would be fascinated to hear how moving services away from a region makes it easier for that region's local paper to report on them.

The Minister for Community Safety (Fergus Ewing): I am familiar with the arguments that the member has advanced. However, are the Liberal Democrats opposed to the court unification process?

Alison McInnes: Absolutely not-although a number of consultees made the point that, for Inverurie, there are alternatives to a unified court. I am disappointed that their suggestions were not explored. The fundamental strength of the lay justice system is that it means that there is local justice-justice is done and is seen to be done in the community. Whatever claims to the contrary are made about the decision, the simple fact is that, as a result of relocating Inverurie hearings to Aberdeen, justice will no longer be done or be seen to be done in the community. The closure of the Inverurie district court is another example of the continuing erosion of local services in rural areas.

The goals of the reforms to summary justice are to make things easier for witnesses and victims, to speed up the process and to ensure that access to justice is available to everybody in Scotland. Forcing people to make long journeys, alienating experienced local justices and removing important local services will not achieve that goal. By agreeing to the closure of the court at Inverurie, the Government has acted to make lay justice more difficult and more inconvenient for the people involved, and it has cast a shadow over the important work of the summary justice reform process. I urge the cabinet secretary and the minister to reconsider the decision, to lend their support to the communities in Aberdeenshire that wish to retain the local court in Inverurie, and to ensure that summary justice is not only quick and effective, as members have said they want it to be, but is also-which is just as important-accessible.