Civic centre could be judged to host High Court cases

Mar 12 2009 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

THE Civic Centre in Livingston could soon be hosting High Court cases.

Talks are taking place to let Livingston join the High Court circuit when the new courts in the Civic Centre open in late August.

The facility will have two jury courts, two criminal courts and two civil courts.

This purpose-built centre provides accommodation for the Procurator Fiscal, police and court service so that all criminal justice agencies can work together.

And on a visit to the Civic Centre the Solicitor General, Frank Mulholland QC, told the Courier the courts would be well placed to hear High Court cases.

Mr Mulholland said: “It is a matter for the Scottish Court Service but I believe that discussions are ongoing. There is always a need for good accommodation for High Court cases and everything is in place here in Livingston.”

It means a full range of cases from murder, rape and large-scale drug cases from the Lothian and Borders area and beyond could soon be heard in the town.

The Solicitor General was visiting the Civic Centre to launch new figures released a year after reforms to the summary justice system.

The changes introduced last year include increased powers to Procurators Fiscal to issue fiscal fines of up to £300, compensation orders of up to £5000 and (in four pilot areas) work orders of up to 50 hours.

These changes were intended to ensure that cases could be dealt with more quickly and effectively, with the minimum of inconvenience for victims and witnesses, in a way which addresses the concerns of local communities.

And Mr Mulholland told the Courier the reforms were resulting in real signs of improvement.

He added: “It is a year on and it’s very much a work in progress. However, the first set of figures are very positive.

“They reveal there have been 50,000 less witness citations. When that factors in it means these witnesses have been spared the stress and inconvenience of having to attend court to give evidence.

“It also means police officers don’t need to go to court and this frees them to do other work in the community.

“Pleas of guilty at the first stage are also up 122 per cent meaning there is no need to cite witnesses or for the police to prepare paperwork.

“One of the benefits is that it also allows us to spend more time in specialised areas such as sexual offences and High Court work.”

And the Solicitor General, who himself stays in Livingston, said the new facilities in the Civic Centre would bring added benefits to the criminal justice system.

Mr Mulholland said: “We have found that an ideal situation is to have all the criminal justice agencies collocated.

“In the Civic Centre we are going to have the Procurator Fiscal in the same building as the police, court and Sheriff Clerk’s office under the one roof. It will be a one stop shop.

“With them all being located together now it means it will cut out on this and means the police productions will always be available to the Procurator Fiscal.

“Also at the new prison in Addiewell there is a facility in place to set up a video link.

“This could be used for preliminary hearings which would save bringing the accused out of prison to the court.

“The building in Livingston also has cutting-edge technology and Assistant Chief Constable Charles Common also told me that the cells have the facility to detect signs of life in a cell and alert officers if a prisoner has stopped breathing.

“With it being a new building it will bring positive benefits to the staff and all the signs are good.”