Malcolm Graham, SCTS chief executive, told Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee that the courts faced “unconscionable potential delays” without urgent action.

He said: “The modelling that we published reported that victims could be waiting up to four years in the High Court if we don’t intervene and do something differently from the time that they report their crime to the time that the case is resolved.”

He warned that delays “ultimately, potentially undermine the rule of law in the country”.

Mr Graham said Scotland had “run out of road for dealing with this system challenge by just increasing the size of the system”, as recruiting more staff would not solve a shortage of courtrooms.

He said modernisation, technology and additional capacity were needed, noting that Scotland’s criminal courts remained largely unchanged for a century.

The committee heard that rising demand was partly linked to positive social changes, including greater action against violence towards women and historic sexual abuse.

Yvette Greener, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service chief operating officer, said the service faced a £6 million budget reduction next year, equivalent to 100 staff.

“If we are kept to that, we will be in a situation where we need to make some quite challenging decisions,” she said.