§ 41. Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Lord Advocate whether he will make a statement as to the average length of time it takes from charging an accused person, until the time that the accused stands trial in the dock; and whether this is one of the matters that the Government will review.
The Lord AdvocateBetween 1st January and 30 September 1976 the average time between a summary case being reported by the police to the procurator fiscal and the accused standing trial in the sheriff courts was two weeks when the accused was in custody, and 12 weeks when the accused was at liberty. The corresponding figures for the district courts were two weeks and seven weeks respectively. The Thomson Committee made certain recommendations about delays, and a working party is presently studying the recommendations before reporting to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and myself.