Report to the People
Spotlight on the Justice System
The tragic case of murder victim, Surjit Singh Chhokar and his family has again focussed our attention on the justice system.
The three prime suspects for his 1998 murder all walked free after two separate trials. At the first, the sole defendant was acquitted after blaming his cousin and an accomplice. When they came to trial last November, both claimed the original defendant was guilty – and also walked free.
This is not justice in anyone’s book. The Scottish Parliament therefore commissioned two separate independent reports into how the investigation and prosecutions were handled.
Published in Parliament last week, both highlight failures and mistakes by the Crown Office, Procurator Fiscal Service, and the police. Both reports show that the prosecution service made mistakes in preparing the case before the first trial. One also recognises "serious failures" in the way the police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service liased with the bereaved relatives and Mr Chhokar’s girlfriend.
There has been much discussion in the days since publication of whether these failures were down to racism and one of the reports did find evidence of this.
However, similar dissatisfaction with the criminal justice system is felt by the victims, their families and witnesses – of all races and religions – who contact me as an MSP. They too complain of poor communication, a lack of compassion, and little effort being made to explain how the complex system works.
But this is not unique to the criminal justice system. As we well know, asbestos victims and their families are treated disgracefully in the civil system, being denied access to jury trials, facing long delays and financial hardship and, in too many cases, dying before compensation is paid.
This issue returned to the Parliament last week, as the Justice 2 Committee considered how to push forward a Public Petition calling for action to be taken. When I attended the Committee meeting, I was pleased that the members had a real determination to deliver a solution.
They were concerned that the legal establishment was not addressing the central problem of delay. It was therefore agreed to call Scotland’s top judge before the Committee, to be cross examined on exactly how the profession proposes to ensure asbestos victims receive civil justice.
Both the Chhokar reports and the asbestos Petition will be crucial steps towards creating a user friendly legal system which is also a system of justice - treating everyone, regardless of background or position, as an equal.
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