Appeals in serious legal cases taking longer to deal with

Published on Tuesday 3 November 2009 20:34

THE average duration of an appeal in the most serious of cases such as rape or murder in Scotland has increased by more than four months, according to official statistics released yesterday.

Amid a 3 per cent drop in the number of total appeals concluded, the average time it took Scottish courts to deal with serious criminal cases rose 34 per cent from 382 to 513 days in 2008-9.

Meanwhile, the average length of criminal appeals increased from 151 to 162 days, up 7 per cent from last year, and the length of High Court appeals increased by 24 per cent from 331 days to 409 days.

In all, 2,191 criminal appeals were concluded in the High Court of Justiciary in 2008-9, a figure equivalent to 2 per cent of all cases where charges are brought.

More than three quarters – 78 per cent – of those appeals were in relation to sentencing, and more than half – 53 per cent – were sifted out before getting to court.

Opposition politicians said the delays were damaging the Scottish legal system.

Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker said it was important that criminal appeals were dealt with in a timely fashion. "Every day in court is costing the taxpayers money in legal aid, and every day of delay adds to the cost to the public," he said.

Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown added: "It costs money and erodes public confidence in the system hugely if appeals get clogged up in this way."

And Bill Aitken for the Conservatives said: "Little wonder public confidence in our justice system is at an all-time low."

But a Scottish Government spokesman said that the management of appeals was a matter for the courts, and

the Scottish Courts Service pointed out that 26 older cases that came before the courts in 2008-9 had impacted on the figures.