To ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to improve efficiency within the justice system, in light of the reported comment from the chief constable of Police Scotland that as many as 500 police officers each day are taken off Scotland's streets to appear at court.
The citation of witnesses is a matter for Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office. As outlined in the 2022 Vision for Justice, and Programme for Government 2024-25 Serving Scotland, the Scottish Government is supporting justice partners to drive key areas of reform to make our criminal justice system more efficient and work better for everyone who experiences it.
Our vision is our criminal justice system will work better for everyone who experiences it, cases will take less time, more cases will conclude early, and fewer witnesses will have to come to court. Summary Case Management (SCM), which provides a new approach to summary criminal cases and aims to improve the summary criminal process to benefit justice users; and DESC (Digital Evidence Sharing Capability), which is a critical enabler for criminal justice reform and allows digital evidence to be collected and shared at every stage of a criminal case at the earliest opportunity are two of the key programmes the Scottish Government is working together with justice partners to deliver this vision.