Glasgow Sheriff Court is under strain from the sheer number of domestic abuse cases coming through the courts. The ‘busiest court in Europe’ currently has a backlog of 1300 domestic abuse cases, with victims waiting up to 19 weeks to have their case heard. The Scottish Court Service however, belives this to be an improvement – it was previously 22 weeks.Domestic abuse cases currently represent around 25 percent of all summary cases coming through the court an din order to relieve the mounting number of cases, additional ‘daily trial courts’ will be held by senior prosecutors next month. 

Spokeswoman for the Scottish Court Service defended the court and said;

“We have introduced an additional domestic abuse trial court every Friday to the existing court programme in Glasgow. And during October there will also be an additional daily trial court to tackle business volumes. The latest figure for the time between domestic abuse cases calling and trial in Glasgow is currently 19 weeks, down from 22 weeks in January. For an adjourned trial the figure is 10 weeks."

Domestic violence currently accounts for 54 per cent of all crimes in Scotland, which is a dramatic increase from the previous figure of 39 per cent. This has resulted in a strain on the courts and a delay in the resolution of cases. However, the Scottish Court Service have remained adamant that they are dedicated to making the court service as efficient as possible.

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