HC Deb 14 January 1997 vol 288 cc211-2W
Mr. Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the organisation of training for the judiciary. [11027]

Mr. Michael Forsyth

I have decided to establish a judicial studies committee to promote training for the judiciary both in the supreme court and in the sheriff court. The right hon. Lord Ross, who has recently retired as Lord Justice Clerk, has agreed to chair this committee which will comprise members from:

  • The supreme courts
  • sheriffs principal
  • Sheriffs' Association
  • Temporary Sheriffs' Association
  • Scottish courts administration
  • together with a lay person or persons with experience in training techniques.

The committee will be supported by a director of judicial studies who will be a serving sheriff undertaking this work on a part-time basis. The remit of the director will be to initiate and promote appropriate developments under the supervision of the judicial studies committee.

The committee will be able to build on the foundation of induction and other training already provided by the Sheriffs' Association. But the speed and scale of change in many areas of the law in recent years, the increasing impact of information technology, and the greater emphasis across the professions on continuing development for their members all point to the need for more sustained and co-ordinated effort in the training field. In the past, there has been little or no formal training for supreme court judges, and the new committee will also consider their needs, which in some respect will be the same as those of the shrieval bench.

I believe that, by focusing effort in this way, the knowledge base and practical skills of the Scottish judiciary will, over time, be significantly enhanced, in ways which will both benefit court users and enhance public confidence in the justice system.

These proposals derive in part from work undertaken by a group established in 1994 under the chairmanship of the right hon. Lord Cameron of Lochbroom, for whose contribution I am most grateful.

I am consulting the Lord Advocate, the Lord President of the Court of Session, the sheriffs principal and the sheriffs' associations about the membership of the committee with a view to it starting work as soon as possible.