By Stefan Morkis

MORE THAN 8000 people in Tayside have accepted fiscal fines rather than face a court appearance over the past four years.

Figures released by Lord Advocate Eilish Angiolini show that since 2004-05, 8012 offenders have accepted fines rather than going through court proceedings.

If a fiscal fine is accepted then it is not recorded as a criminal offence.

The figures were released in the same week that Dundee Sheriff Richard Davidson questioned why there had been a dramatic fall in the number of criminal cases passing through the court.

However, figures show that the amount of fiscal fines being issued has remained relatively static over the past four years with a rough average of 2000 fines issued each year.

In 2004-05, 2156 fines were issued. This fell to 1736 the follow year but rose again to 2292 in 2006-07.

However, in the last year for which figures are available, 2007-08, there had been another drop—this time to 1828 fines.

By comparison, Fife has seen a rise in the number of fiscal fines issued. From a low of 1095 in 2005-06, 1740 fines were issued in 2007-08.

In total, 5843 fines have been issued in Fife over the past four years.

Since 2004-05 there has been a large rise in the number of fixed penalties issued for road traffic offences.

In Tayside there have been 11,410 penalties issued over the four years, rising from 1789 in 2004-05 to 3472 last year.

Fife has seen a similar rise—from 956 in 2004-05 to 2688 last year with a total of 7131 fines issued over the four years.

Concerns raised by solicitors about the drop in the number of cases passing through the courts prompted Sheriff Davidson to raise the issue in court.

The past Dean of the Faculty of Solicitors George Donnelly has said that it appeared that the drop in cases was simply cost-cutting.

In her response to questions asked in the Scottish Parliament by Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell, Ms Angiolini said the effect of summary justice reforms would not be known until autumn.

She said, “It is for the Procurator Fiscal to decide, in the public interest, on the basis of a careful consideration of all the factors relevant to a particular case, whether criminal proceedings are appropriate and the level of court in which the prosecution will take place.

“Summary justice reform was implemented with effect from December 2007 and includes changes to ensure that more serious cases are prosecuted in the new Justice of the Peace Courts which have been established by the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) act 2007.

“Detailed figures on the impact of summary justice reform are not yet available although early indications are that the proportion of prosecutions in the Justice of the Peace and district courts has risen from 24% in February 2008 to 26% in March 2008.”

Earlier this week Victim Support Scotland said fiscal fines should only be given to petty offenders.