Nanette Milne, Scottish Conservative MSP for the North East has expressed her concern for justice being delivered in rural communities following the recommendation to close the Sheriff Courts and Justice of the Peace Courts both in Arbroath and Stonehaven.
Nanette Milne, Scottish Conservative MSP for the North East said:
“The closure of Arbroath and Stonehaven Sheriff Courts would represent a major blow to justice being delivered to communities in Angus and Kincardine.
“It is clear that the consequences of closing both Arbroath and Stonehaven Sheriff Courts will inevitably inconvenience members of the public and take away from the front line policing duties of local police officers.
“It also means that a huge amount of pressure will be heaped upon Forfar and Aberdeen Sheriff Courts as they have to take on the extra workload created by these closures. This will severely hamper our ability to process criminal and civil cases and will inevitably lead to more delays in the system.
“The SNP has already been told that fewer Sheriff courts would struggle to cope with the criminal caseload and the adequate processing of criminal and civil cases will be adversely affected. These proposed changes require careful consideration, especially in rural areas where the presence of a local court can save time and money.
“The SNP have shown little regard for the communities in Angus and Kincardine which will be directly affected. Instead the SNP Scottish Government is pursuing a soft-touch agenda which will deny justice to the victims of crime.
Nanette Milne MSP added: “What is perhaps most disappointing about this announcement is that the Scottish Courts Service has totally ignored the many voices that were calling out against these closures. A huge majority of responses that they received to their consultation were against their proposals, yet they have chosen to go ahead with them regardless.
“When some of these are organisations include the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates they deserve better than to merely be ignored. I hope that the SNP Government now takes the right decision and chooses to not go ahead with these proposals. They have the ability to stop these closures and they must prevent the lasting damage they would cause.”