A ROLL-BACK in the provision of specialist domestic abuse courts has been motivated by “cost-cutting”, according to charities including Scottish Women’s Aid.
Scotland’s first dedicated domestic abuse court was set up in Glasgow in 2004, followed by Edinburgh in 2012.
Although the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service – responsible for the judiciary – still describes these courts as “dedicated domestic abuse courts”, charities advocating for victims have argued that the original model for specialist courts has been “abandoned”.
These courts, and several others around Scotland, schedule domestic abuse cases to take place together in “clusters”. However, campaigners say that specialist sheriffs and prosecutors – originally a core feature of the specialist courts – are no longer in place and that this has had an adverse impact on victims.
Scottish Women’s Aid CEO Dr Marsha Scott told the Sunday National: “The regression in access to a specialist court, which has happened as a result of cost-cutting in the courts, is absolutely shameful.
“They might cluster the domestic abuse cases in some places but they certainly aren’t getting them to court in eight to 10 weeks, and they’re not being operated by people with specialist training.”
The purpose of setting up specialist courts was to better manage the complexity of domestic abuse cases and the risks to victims and to take account of those factors throughout the process, including at the sentencing stage.
In 2007, an evaluation was carried out into Glasgow’s domestic abuse court which, according to Scott, demonstrated that the model “worked brilliantly” but “was a little more expensive”.
Scottish Women’s Aid has called for this model to be rolled out to other parts of Scotland.
Scott said the key elements essential to a specialist court, which were in place at the time of the evaluation, are “specially trained sheriffs and judges, specially trained fiscals [prosecutors], an independent service that supports victims, and you need to have cases to court in a certain window in order to reduce witness attrition”.
She added: “The original model, which evaluated so positively for domestic abuse victim-survivors, has been abandoned.
“We hear lots of very positive discussion about the case management pilots the courts have been running, but we are not confident that the outcomes of those cases have improved victim-survivors’ experience of the criminal justice system, as there hasn’t been any serious evaluation with victim-survivors.
“The court process, convictions and sentencing in domestic abuse cases all affect the safety of women and children involved and influence whether they feel confident about reporting domestic abuse ever again.
“We need a system that consistently offers responses that reflect specialist expertise about domestic abuse and trauma. We are farther away now than some years ago, in part because commitment to good specialist courts has disappeared.”
Domestic abuse charity SafeLives, which is currently developing a national accreditation programme for Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy (DACA) workers in Scotland, also raised concerns about a step backwards in specialist domestic abuse courts.
Gemma Gall, DACA accreditation lead at SafeLives, said: “Over the past five or so years, possibly slightly more, there has been a move away from specialist domestic abuse courts.
“We had specialist domestic abuse courts in parts of Scotland where sheriffs and prosecutors were specially trained and focused on domestic abuse cases, so they really had a buy-in to understanding domestic abuse. We’ve moved away from that.
“If this is just a general part of your work, that’s really different to ‘this is something that I’m invested in that I do day to day, that I do additional training on’. I think that’s a real challenge.”
All members of the judiciary, including sheriffs and judges, undertake training in relation to domestic abuse. However, organisations supporting victims have argued that this training is “generic” and distinct from the kind of specialist training they feel is required.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said: “Domestic abuse cases continue to be prioritised, accounting for around a third of all evidence-led trials called in summary courts, with dedicated domestic abuse courts continuing to operate in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“Domestic abuse cases receive earlier trial diets and with the Summary Case Management (SCM) initiative being rolled out across Scotland, many cases are being resolved early without the need to go to trial, minimising trauma, inconvenience and delay for complainers, and witnesses.
“SCM involves early disclosure of evidence, early engagement between the defence and the Crown and pro-active judicial case management. During the SCM pilot, 530 summary trials did not require to be fixed and 18,000 witnesses were not cited or recited.
“In addition, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and justice partners continue to work together on developing a more trauma-informed approach for domestic abuse cases, and the use of remote evidence where appropriate.
“The number of scheduled domestic abuse trials has fallen from nearly 7500 at its peak to under 3000 despite an increase in the number of complaints registered.”
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), which is responsible for the prosecution of cases, has a joint protocol with Police Scotland with the aim of ensuring a consistent approach when dealing with criminal conduct arising from domestic abuse.
Scotland’s Procurator Fiscal for Domestic Abuse, Dr Emma Forbes, is the COPFS lead on these crimes. She said: “We are committed to tackling domestic abuse. It is a priority for Scotland’s prosecutors. If you have experienced domestic abuse, please know that reporting it means you will be listened to and taken seriously.
“Ground-breaking Scottish legislation has improved how domestic abuse is understood and prosecuted by recognising a much wider range of abusive and controlling behaviour.
“Our prosecutors have specialist training in both domestic abuse and in understanding trauma.
“The SCM initiative being rolled out across Scotland has enhanced our engagement with victims and improved our understanding of their views and needs. As a result, many cases are being resolved early without the need to go to trial. We hope this minimises trauma for victims and witnesses of domestic abuse.
“Improving their experiences is a focus of our work. No-one should have to live in fear of a partner or former partner.”
