While ministers insist that the only way of ending delays in the Crown Court is to limit the use of juries, a judge responsible for non-jury trials has achieved what’s been described as an “inspiring success” in reducing backlogs.
Through collaboration across the criminal justice system of Scotland, Aisha Anwar KC (hon), sheriff principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and president of the Sheriff Appeal Court, has managed to cut the number of cases awaiting trial in the summary sheriff courts from over 30,000 during the pandemic to 9,000 at the last count. Scheduled summary trials are now 27% below the pre-pandemic baseline.
It was Lord Pentland, Scotland’s most senior judge, who described the summary case management project led by Anwar as an inspiring success that demonstrated the value of close engagement between the judiciary, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police and the court service.
When Anwar joined me to record an episode of A Lawyer Talks last Friday, I asked the sheriff principal whether she thought something similar would work in England and Wales. We also found time to talk about the lighthouses that she had been due to visit that afternoon.
My podcast interview, as always, is a bonus for paying subscribers to A Lawyer Writes. Everyone else can hear a short taster by clicking the ► symbol on the graphic at the top of this page.
