Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar

The roll out of a case management initiative to all sheriff courts in Scotland has been “instrumental in reducing the number of scheduled trials”. It has also led to a “significant reduction” in unnecessary witness attendance and police witness citations, delivering clear benefits for victims and witnesses.

A new report published today concludes the national roll out of Summary Case Management (SCM), following a successful pilot, which has laid a strong foundation for long-term reform of Scotland’s summary justice system.

It is estimated that over 100,000 fewer police officers were cited to give evidence during the period of the national rollout of SCM. Approximately 3000 fewer child witnesses were cited, representing a reduction of 40 per cent in the same period.

The report reveals there has been a 47 per cent reduction in first witness citations and re-citations are down 59 per cent, compared to September 2022.

In addition, more trials now proceed on the scheduled day, with fewer adjournments to new trial diets. The percentage of adjourned trials has fallen from 40 per cent to 27 per cent. This reflects the benefits of earlier disclosure, focused preparation and purposeful judicial case management under SCM.

Figures recently published by SCTS show the number of scheduled trials in Summary Sheriff Courts across Scotland has fallen to 9,000 from over 30,000 during the pandemic. Domestic abuse trials showed an equally marked improvement, falling from a peak of 7,685 to 2,005 (a 74 per cent reduction) and now sitting 30 per cent below the historic baseline of 2,978.

Sheriff Principal Aisha Anwar KC (Hon) said: “The key to success of the rollout lies firmly in collaboration at a local and national level.  It has been a pleasure to work with so many willing partners across the justice sector to deliver a shared vision of a modern summary criminal justice system.

“SCM does not simply represent an efficiency gain.  It represents a change of culture.  Early communication, meaningful engagement between prosecution and defence and proactive judicial case management have replaced delay and uncertainty. It is a significant improvement in how justice is delivered in the summary criminal courts. 

“Looking ahead, the challenge for all is to ensure that SCM becomes, and remains, business as usual.”

Justice Secretary Neil Gray said:  “This report shows that more victims, including those who have experienced domestic abuse, are receiving justice quicker as a result of Summary Case Management. By reducing unnecessary trials and resolving cases earlier, it is freeing up time for police officers and the courts, and sparing victims and witnesses from having to appear in court to give evidence.

“I welcome the national roll-out of Summary Case Management, supported by the Scottish Government’s world-leading Digital Evidence Sharing Capability programme, which enables digital sharing of evidence from crime scene to courtroom, bringing cases to conclusion more quickly.”