By Bruce Robbins

JUSTICE REFORMS have slashed the number of cases going through Tayside courts at any one time, the region’s top prosecutor said yesterday.

Area procurator fiscal David Howdle said court business had dropped from 2050 cases in 2005/06 to 713 and was continuing to fall.

Mr Howdle, addressing a meeting of the Tayside Community Justice Authority, said the reforms had been of huge benefit to the fiscal, police and court services in the region.

The criminal justice reforms have been criticised in some quarters, but Mr Howdle said the situation had been so bad in the past that something had to be done.

A few years ago, 31,000 cases were being reported annually to his office but this had since fallen to 25,000. So many cases were going before the courts that they were just being “churned through.”

Although trials were fixed in 75% of summary cases, only 5% of cases actually reached that stage because pleas were eventually tendered.

Victims and witnesses were often sent away from court because pressure of business meant their cases were adjourned and police officers spent too much time waiting to give evidence.

Working with Tayside Police, improvements have been made to the system so that Tayside now leads the country in the time taken to report cases to the fiscal service.

So-called “fiscal fines,” which give the perpetrator the chance to pay a fine and avoid going to court, had also brought benefits.

Efforts were also being made to weed out “bad” cases, which, for a variety of reasons, were unlikely ever to be prosecuted, so that other cases could be handled more quickly.

However, Mr Howdle, in his presentation to the Tayside CJA, stressed that the reforms were not about saving money but about delivering a more efficient service.

He added, “It’s important that courts aren’t clogged up with cases that should not be there. The courts should be allowed to concentrate on the cases that need to be prosecuted.

“If there is no longer a reasonable prospect of success in a case, should it still go through the court willy-nilly? Should bad cases just continue to trundle through the courts without anyone intervening?

“Depute fiscals now say that trials take place that have a point to them and solicitors are complaining about a lack of business.”

The changes meant that there had been an increase over the last four years from 73% to 76% in early pleas of guilty in sheriff court summary cases while early pleas in more serious solemn cases had risen from 36.5% to 66.5%.

This, he said, was good news for accused people who are dealt with more quickly, police officers who are freed to return to the street and witnesses who are no longer turning up at court only to be sent away again.

He added, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a success. There’s more to be done obviously but the picture in Tayside is relatively healthy.”