Justice Denied: 'Not sustainable' trial delays not just linked to Covid-19, warns former Scottish courts chief

Increasing caseload will require additional capacity, Scottish Covid-19 inquiry told

The lengthy waiting time for criminal trials to conclude is “not sustainable”, with Scotland’s courts system faced with the need to accelerate its recovery programme to meet demand, according to the former head of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS).

Eric McQueen, who served as chief executive of the SCTS during the Covid-19 pandemic, said the “main concern” facing the organisation was focused on the years ahead and how it could provide “additional capacity” to facilitate criminal trials.

Giving evidence to the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry as part of its justice impact hearings on Wednesday, Mr McQueen stressed while the majority of the work to clear the backlog built up by the pandemic had been achieved, an increasing workload of serious and complex cases was continuing to take its toll on the courts system.

Eric McQueen gives evidence to the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry | Eric McQueen gives evidence to the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry

It comes as The Scotsman is running Justice Denied, a week-long series scrutinising pressures throughout Scotland’s criminal justice system. The series has previously detailed how it has become commonplace for years to pass between an offence taking place and a verdict being delivered in court, with victims of serious sexual offences subject to the lengthiest delays.

The series has also revealed how prosecutors took no further action in more than 9,000 criminal cases over the past five years due to statutory time-bar breaches, and delays on the part of police and other reporting agencies.

Addressing the hearing of the inquiry, chaired by Lord Brailsford, Mr McQueen said the upturn in court business was already evident prior to the pandemic, with the trend intensifying in the years since.

The Scotsman's week-long series is scrutinising pressures in the criminal justice system. | TSPL

“The position we’re in at the moment is still a significant increase, but most of that is generated by business levels that had been increasing anyway,” he said.

“Arguably the vast amount of the backlog has now been dealt with. What we are seeing, particularly on the solemn side in the High Court and in sheriff solemn, is the continuation of the increase in the level of indictments that are coming through.

“That was evident before the pandemic - already, both the High Court and sheriff and jury were under pressure. We’ve seen a quite steady 10 to 15 per cent increase in the levels of indictments, most of them related to sexual offences. That looks like it’s going to be a continuing theme.”

Mr McQueen, who retired as SCTS chief executive in August last year, said the “additional surge in business” presented challenges for the organisation.

“Our main concern now is about the future years, how we can provide the additional capacity to deal with both the High Court and sheriff solemn,” he said. “By comparison, there were round about 400 scheduled trials outstanding for the High Court pre-Covid, and we’re currently sitting at about 730.

“Quite clearly that impacts on the waiting time for trials, which in most cases are taking more than twice longer than they were pre-pandemic. And quite clearly, for accused, for victims of crime, for witnesses, the longer it takes to get to a verdict, the more difficult it is.

“We’re acutely aware that this is not something that’s sustainable, and we need to maintain - and indeed increase - the recovery program to deal with that increasing level of business.”