Sheriff courts across country earmarked for closure as part of proposals

Proposals: Sheriff courts including Stonehaven are earmarked for closure.Gary Cruden

The Scottish Court Service has revealed that 11 sheriff courts across the county are earmarked for closure.

Sheriff courts in Alloa, Cupar, Dingwall, Arbroath, Haddington, Stonehaven, Dornoch, Duns, Kirkcudbright and Rothesay are facing the chop with Justice of the Peace Courts at Portree, Stornoway, Wick, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Annan, Irvine and Motherwell also marked for closure.

All business from these courts would be transferred to other courts.

Sheriff courts targeted include those with low volumes of business and those with other courts "in proximity".

The proposed closures have been detailed in a consultation document published by the Scottish Court Service (SCS).

The consultation will run for three months before SCS officials make any final decisions.

Eric McQueen, executive director of SCS, said: "We have to provide a court structure that provides access to justice for the people of Scotland, along with the facilities and services which they have a right to expect.

"That structure has to reflect the planned reforms to the justice system and at the same time be affordable in the long term. We already know the status quo is not an option.

"With greater levels of specialisation expected to result from the justice reforms, we anticipate the most serious types of business being heard in fewer locations. Many of our court buildings were built in Victorian times and are both expensive to maintain and difficult to adapt to modern needs.

"Fewer court buildings would allow SCS to target future investment to ensure that the best possible facilities and level of service is available for all court users but more particularly for victims, witnesses, and vulnerable people.

"We accept that having fewer court buildings, as proposed, will impact on travel distances for some people and the consultation paper sets out the likely impact of the proposed changes.

"For most people, attending court is a rare experience and future court services will seek to reduce this requirement through greater use of technology and online services."

Other proposals include dedicated High Court centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and establishing 16 sheriff and jury centres on the mainland.

Video and other communications technology will be used in future court proceedings to mitigate the impact on members of the public expected to attend at court. The technology will be introduced over the next decade if the plans are approved flowing the consultation.

The Law Society of Scotland warned the closures could damage access to the justice system in the long term.

Society president Austin Lafferty said: "Widening access to justice has been highlighted by the Scottish Government as a priority in its recently published justice strategy.

"While there have been concessions made following a series of events hosted by SCS to discuss the issues involved, and at 11 the number of proposed closures is not as severe as the 15 initially proposed, it is still difficult to see how a court closure programme on this scale is consistent with that strategy.

"Local courts have an important role within their communities and it is absolutely essential that access to justice remains the core consideration throughout this consultation process."

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