Editorial: Rotting on Remand

When is a rule not a rule? When it is the 140 day rule apparently. Last week we revealed the shocking extent to which this rule is being ignored as a matter of routine – part of the price paid for a chronically underfunded justice system.

Our story was picked up by Scotland on Sunday which also published a supportive leader and in the coming weeks we intend to continue to highlight this matter.

It is utterly hypocritical for the government to hide behind the judges who now find themselves having to do the government’s dirty work by extending the time limits.

Of course, the unpalatable alternative of doing the honest thing and going to Parliament to legislate for a 300 day or even 350 day rule would reveal the extent to which the criminal justice system is creaking at the seams. There would be a justifiable outcry at any such proposal which flies in the face the spirit of Scottish justice that enshrines access to justice without undue delay as one of its principal tenets. But it is the reality of what is happening today.

It is not for us to dwell on the irony of a government that purports to defend Scottish interests condoning the weakening of one of the very things that makes Scotland distinctive within the UK – the Scottish legal system.

Graham Ogilvy