The possible impact on the judiciary's time of proposals in the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill is to be the subject of a short-life independent review.

Following concerns expressed by the Justice Committee in their stage one report, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has asked former Senior Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland Douglas Osler to carry out the review.

The proposed remit of the review is to reach an independent view on the extent to which new functions proposed for the judiciary in the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill will require the commitment of additional judicial time to administrative tasks, and to quantify that commitment of additional judicial time.

The Justice Committee's report, while calling for the review, also recommended that the Parliament should agree to the general principles of the bill.

Speaking during the Bill's stage one debate, MacAskill said: “The Scottish Government is committed to having a judiciary that is independent of both the legislative and executive branches of government.

“That is why we have brought forward this bill which will strengthen and modernise arrangements for the judiciary and the administration of the courts.

“However, during scrutiny of the bill, the Justice Committee expressed concerns that the new administrative tasks for judges in the bill would impact on their existing judicial duties.

“I have therefore asked Douglas Osler to carry out a short-life review to examine the extent of extra work that the changes will mean for the judiciary. His findings will help inform the ongoing work to develop the bill in the next few months.

“When the bill becomes law it will, along with our programme of summary justice reform, help improve the experience of the public and practitioners in our justice system."

The review will be carried out before the Bill returns to the Justice Committee for further scrutiny at stage two.

Also speaking in debate, Bill Aitken, the Conservative’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice and convener of the Justice Committee, said: “The Committee quite properly spent much time discussing the issue of diversity and judicial appointments.

“Not all that long ago we had few women Sheriffs and no women High Court Judges and that situation has now dramatically changed.  We have no High Court Judges from Scotland’s ethnic communities but I am convinced that that will happen in due course once the pool is somewhat wider. That will be a good thing.

“It is however absolutely essential to recognise that all judicial appointments should be on the basis of merit alone.  Irrespective of the gender or ethnic origin of any applicant that person simply must be the best person for the job”.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary Margaret Smith said: “It’s essential that people have confidence in the justice system.  This Bill will guarantee judicial independence, enshrining the principle in Scots law that judges must be free from undue influence.

“I welcome the general principles of this Bill, much of which is the result of action taken by the previous Executive. There is, however, room for improvement.

“At present, victim support agencies are concerned that judges do not receive mandatory specialist training before working with vulnerable witnesses and victims of crime.  Attending court can be a frightening experience and Liberal Democrats are sympathetic to the view that mandatory formal training for judges should be introduced particularly in respect of vulnerable witnesses.  This would ensure that judges are trained to support vulnerable individuals who appear before them.”

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