A STORM of protest has erupted over plans to close one in five sheriff courts in the biggest shake-up of Scotland's system for more than a century.
The Scottish Court Service (SCS) announced the changes yesterday, subject to parliamentary approval, after reaching agreement with the Lord President, Lord Justice Clerk and Sheriffs Principal.
Ten of the existing 49 sheriff courts in Scotland that deal with criminal and civil cases now face closure, mostly over the next two to three years.
There would be just 21 courts from the remaining 39 to deal with sheriff and jury cases in a move expected to be progressively introduced over 10 years.
High Court cases, which are currently heard in towns and cities across Scotland, would also be mainly dealt with at three dedicated centres – Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen – the report recommended.
Sheriff court transfers said to be down to "low volume business or in proximity" involved shifting cases from Rothesay on Bute to Greenock. Another recommendation involved moving Kirkcudbright business to Dumfries, nearly 30 miles away.
The plans would also see the closure of seven justice of the peace courts.
Eric McQueen, chief executive of the SCS, said the moves "may sound stark, but they are proportionate". Opponents said they will limit access to justice and are simply a cost-cutting exercise.
SCS will have lost more than £50 million from its capital budget over the four years to 2014/15, making closures inevitable. It also has to cut £20m from its running costs budget. Mr McQueen said funding pressures meant changes were needed in the way the service operates.
Law Society of Scotland president Austin Lafferty said the closures would "seriously threaten" access to justice in many parts of Scotland and could lead to a "long-term decline in our cherished justice system".
Victim Support Scotland was concerned victims and witnesses faced the prospect of travelling greater distances to access court services and to participate in hearings.
Brian Carroll, secretary of the PCS union's Scottish Courts branch, said the proposals were "about fitting the delivery of justice into a reduced budget and nothing to do with modernisation or with the proposed justice reforms that are under consultation presently".
He added: "The introduction of reforms should not be reliant on the closure of courts."
The plans also suggest a move towards "specialist jury centres" at certain sheriff courts over a longer 10-year period.
Sheriff courts in Dornoch, Duns, Kirkcudbright, Peebles, Rothesay, Cupar, Dingwall, Arbroath, Haddington and Stonehaven will be closed, with business transferred to other locations.
Meanwhile, justice of the peace courts in Annan, Irvine, Motherwell, Cumbernauld, Portree, Stornoway and Wick will also shut.
The announcement caused a political storm.
Scottish Conservative Chief Whip John Lamont MSP said the move would mean more than 10,000 cases will have to be allocated to those courts that remain, and could lead to trials being delayed and access to justice being harmed.
Scottish Labour's Jenny Marra MSP, added: "To close courts and ask victims and witnesses to travel further with more inconvenience is simply unacceptable."
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