THE Scottish justice system is creaking under the mounting pressure of budget cuts, overworked prosecutors and a rise in complex cases of historical sexual abuse. In April, a Justice Committee report following a major inquiry into the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal service (COPFS) highlighted as much.
While praising staff for working hard to cope in the face of a financial squeeze, it noted there was no room for complacency in an organisation “just about managing”. Among factors identified were an unacceptably high level of adjournments and postponements, inadequate communication, a lack of preparation time for cases and the consequences of these for staff morale. This has had an impact on the numbers within the service. Despite a recent recruitment exercise, the overall tally of prosecutors is almost six per cent lower than the record of 558 full-time equivalent staff in 2009.
The report warned that it would be unreasonable to rely on the resilience of COPFS staff indefinitely. These concerns have again been raised in a submission to MSPs on Holyrood’s Justice Committee as the section of the FDA union that represents the majority of our prosecutors prepares to scrutinise the Government’s draft Budget for the coming year. The union points out that the real-terms budget for the COPFS faces being cut by more than one-fifth between 2009-10 and 2018-19; this despite recent research showing that, in 2016 alone, the COPFS considered more than 225,000 reports about crime. For those working on the frontline of the service this means that, on each working day, decisions have to be made whether to prosecute or take other action on hundreds of cases ranging from minor offences to murder.
Faced with this workload, not only do prosecutors warn that their own health and welfare is in jeopardy as they struggle to absorb increased demand but they are also equally concerned that a buckling system is “letting victims and witnesses down”. This is especially alarming given that the latest data points to a massive spike in serious historical sex abuse cases. About three quarters of cases prosecuted in the High Court involve sexual offences, an increase of 50 per cent on two years ago. Most involve what the FDA describes as “complex investigation” work as well as being “intensive cases which carry significant welfare risks to members involved”.
The dangers are clear. Not only is there a serious risk of an erosion of the justice system but also countless cases of historical sex abuse will not be processed with the rigour and legal scrutiny required. In some cases they might not even reach conclusion.
This is unacceptable, not least when the proposed public inquiry to examine all recent allegations of child abuse after the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal has not fully materialised. The Scottish Government is right to say the justice system has a good record. To maintain and improve on that record it must ensure the requisite resources are made available.
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