Concern over 'risk' to legal system

The prosecution service has been reformed

More families could be failed by the justice system due to a chronic lack of resources, according to a new report.

MSPs on the Scottish Parliament's justice committee said there is "an unacceptable level of risk in the legal system" because of under-resourcing.

The report acknowledged that increased levels of staffing and other reforms were under way in the prosecution service.

But it said that low morale and a lack of funding are still causing pressure and delays in the High Court.

Pauline McNeil: "Much has changed"

Committee convener Pauline McNeil said: "This process has been a dynamic one.

"The committee's views have been clear from the meetings we have had and we have been gratified by the extent to which the Crown Office and the executive have taken our views on board and the changes they have implemented as a result.

"Our committee views this report, however, as an interim report. Much has changed since the inquiry began and this is a crucial point for the department.

"We hope that a future justice committee will take up the issues we have raised and maintain the pressure on the department to deliver the changes it has promised."

Committee members accepted that there had been "surprisingly few" cases that come into public awareness as having gone wrong.

However, during fact-finding trips the MSPs saw staff preparing what appeared to be "unmanageable amounts" of work in "exceptionally short" timescales.

The committee recommended that the;

• solicitor general is given specific responsibility for ensuring effective communication between police and fiscals about what is required from police reports

• the solicitor general is also responsible for ensuring there are adequate police/fiscal liaison arrangements at all levels

• and there should be an adequate level of resources to allow cases from a non-police reporting agencies (customs and excise, DVLA and Air Accident Investigation Branch) to be prosecuted wherever this is in the public interest

Widespread failings in the prosecution service were identified in independent reports which followed a campaign waged by the Chhokar family after the murder of their son Surjit.

Mr Chhokar was stabbed to death outside the home he shared with his girlfriend in Overtown, Lanarkshire, on 4 November, 1998.

No-one has ever been convicted of murdering the 32-year-old, despite the fact that three men have stood trial at two separate hearings.

Two official reports found evidence in the police service and legal establishment of institutional racism, inefficiency, overburdened junior staff, and a neglect of the victims of crime.

The head of the prosecution service, the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd, has recruited more than 100 new staff and introduced a string of reforms.