Reform debates to make Scottish justice system more transparent
Glasgow Sheriff Court
MSPs in Holyrood will be debating the controversial Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill today, which could shake up the current Scottish justice system.
The government says the aims of the new reforms are to “improve the experience of victims and witnesses in the justice system”.
However, trainee solicitor Katie McLachlan said: “With the amount of controversy surrounding it, I don’t think it will go through as it is just now.”
Some of the reforms include reducing the number of jurors on criminal trials from 15 to 12, meaning the jury will now need a two thirds majority for a guilty verdict.
Additionally, the bill will see the abolition of Scotland’s not proven verdict which has been repeatedly called to be scrapped.
The Scottish Government has already implemented and funded some improvements, including the creation of two additional specialist suites for vulnerable adult and child witnesses giving evidence in serious criminal cases.
The most controversy surrounds the creation of a new specialist sexual offences court, which will pilot seeing rape cases being held without a jury with the sheriff deciding to convict or not.
However, Miss McLachlan said: “The current system has a lot of room for error and the conviction rate is quite low. If there is no jury, then there is more room for actual convictions and actually getting these victims the justice they deserve.”
