New Lord President promises further action to tackle delays

A successful Scottish legal system depends on everyone playing a part in its constant re-evaluation, Lord Carloway said today on his formal installation at Lord President and Lord Justice General.

In an address to a packed courtroom in Parliament House, the Lord President said he did not expect everyone to agree on the best way forward – "We will never achieve that level of perfect harmony in Parliament House” – but “If we can all, however, engage in discussing where the problems lie and attempt to devise practical solutions for them, the system will begin to match public expectations in the 21st century."

Lord Carloway noted that the Sheriff Appeal Court and the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injuries Court were now in place to begin removing work from the Court of Session. This along with the raised privative jurisdiction limit of the sheriff court (now at £100,000) "will undoubtedly produce a rebalancing of civil work which ought to see the Court of Session engaged primarily in cases appropriate to the supreme courts in Scotland".

He observed that consideration might have to be given to the size of the Inner House divisions and the work of the appellate judges, according to the change in business volumes, and promised "a determined drive towards more sustainable procedures with the introduction in the near future of what will in effect be the electronic process". Efforts would also be focused on the time taken to issue judgments, especially in the Outer House.

Continued work to increase accessibility to the courts would also include the new sheriff court simple procedure.

Turning to criminal business, Lord Carloway pointed out that there had been a 60% increase over the last four years in the number of High Court trials, a "significant challenge" the underlying cause of which was still uncertain. He continued:

“There has been concern expressed about the extension of time limits… The issue for the future will be whether, in the era of statutory disclosure, scientific analysis of DNA findings and the recovery and detailed scrutiny of text and email messaging, the narrow window allowed by statute for the commencement of a trial is sustainable or in accord with modern principles of fairness or justice."

Issues thrown up by the recent Audit Scotland report on summary prosecutions would also be addressed, as would "the continued efficacy of the now almost eviscerated prohibition of hearsay".

The Lord President concluded by saying he looked forward to working with everyone willing to engage in discussions with a view to achieving practical solutions.

Click here to view the full address.