Report
to the People
16th
December 2002
Modern Justice
Any encounter with crime is a horrible experience. Not only are you left with fewer possessions or painful physical injuries, you can be robbed of your confidence and dignity.
Worse still, your ordeal is not always over when the criminal runs off into the night. All too often, the justice system gives you a second working over. From a lack of information to excessive delays, victims of crime can feel completely ignored by the justice process.
And, as a number of my constituents who have raised this matter with me would testify, this dubious honour isn’t just extended to victims – families and witnesses are similarly dissatisfied.
It is against this background that I have, over the past few years, been making direct representations to Justice Minister, Jim Wallace. While probably less down to my exceptionally persuasive arguments and more to do with the fact that many other colleagues were also making similar representations, radical reform of the criminal justice system is now on the cards.
Initial steps which are already being taken, such as stopping alleged sex attackers personally cross-examining victims and providing better protection for vulnerable witnesses, look likely to be backed up by major improvements to our High Courts.
High Court Judge, Lord Bonomy, has published an extensive report into Scotland’s court system which paves the way for delay and distress to be cut. Cases should, he says for example, have a specific start date and there should be a strong likelihood that the trial will actually start on that day. This would minimise the stress and inconvenience caused to witnesses, jurors, victims and everyone else caught up in the criminal justice system through no fault of their own.
These proposals will now go out to consultation and, subject of course to the outcome of next year’s election, will form the basis of a Bill in the next Parliamentary session.
That change is needed in our criminal justice system should not be a cause for alarm. It is perfectly natural that a system which serves a community evolves to keep pace with changes in that community. Indeed, such change it is essential if the system is to remain effective.
As the Justice Minister himself has said, "well-established practices should not be regarded as sacrosanct if they are now hampering the delivery of justice." The justification for the continuation of certain rules and practices cannot simply be that things have always been done that way. The time is right to sweep away outdated, outmoded working practices and renew our faith in our justice system.
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