Managing huge backlog of High Court cases 'like a game of Jenga'

Glasgow High Court’s ‘chaos co-ordinator’ says managing the huge increase in the number of trials coming through Scotland’s court system is like “a game of Jenga”.

An increase in the number of cases related to historic sex offences and serious organised crime has added to a major backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the latest figures show the time between an accused first appearing in court on charges and their trial starting is expected to increase to 2.5 years by the end of 2028.

STV News was granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the country’s busiest High Court and met with business manager Nicky Glass, who is responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly.

Nicky told STV News chief reporter Sharon Frew: “It’s very much, I describe it like Jenga. You build up a tower, and if just one thing comes out, it all falls down. So, communication is key. The business has increased. So, it is becoming more difficult to manage with the current resources that we have.

Nicky describes herself as a 'chaos co-ordinator' — Nicky describes herself as a ‘chaos co-ordinator’ STV News

“My headache today is that we are currently in summer downtime, where we’re running two courts less for the holiday period, to allow senators [senior judges] to get their holidays.

“So, my headache today is that I should have eight trial courts, but out of those eight trial courts, I have four not sitting. One judge has an allocated high-profile case, so he’s pretty much out of the picture for taking anything else this week. Another judge has a nine-week serious and organised crime trial that’s running.

“I have six new trials to find homes for and at present this week, unless something were to suddenly not run, I don’t have any homes for them at Glasgow. So, my priority will be liaising with my colleague in Edinburgh to see if she can take a transfer from me.

“We’re also very mindful of the waiting times that are caused now, and we know that that can be frightening for customers. For example, people who are in custody or victims. So, we’re trying our best to tackle that by introducing additional circuit courts.”