Government has published a delivery plan for modernising the criminal justice system

by Bill Heaney

The Scottish Government and its partners have made progress in cutting the criminal courts backlog and modernising justice services – but risks remain in delivering much-needed reforms. 

There were around 13,268 outstanding scheduled trials at the end of  2025/26 – around a third of the number of the backlog’s peak in 2022.

However, a rise in complex cases, such as historic sexual abuse and organised crime, has led to high levels of backlogs for courts dealing with the most serious issues.

Outstanding scheduled High Court trials rose to 1,002 at the end of 2025/26 – almost three times pre-pandemic levels. This is creating pressure across the system.

The Scottish Government has published a delivery plan for modernising the criminal justice system.

There has been mixed progress with projects designed to improve efficiency, with some delayed or still to start.

There has also been limited evaluation and public reporting on progress, making it difficult to know what impact projects are having.

The Scottish Government and its partners have improved how they engage with people who use court services. But service users are not actively involved in work to make the system more efficient.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said:  “Criminal court business has changed significantly. The overall number of outstanding trials has reduced considerably since 2022. But the rise in serious, resource-intensive cases in recent years is impacting the High Court backlog and the wider justice system. 

“The Scottish Government and its partners have set out how efficiencies will be delivered. But their planned modernisation projects must be supported by more robust delivery arrangements, clarity on the resources required, and effective collaboration.”

Commenting on the Auditor General’s report on the backlog in the Scottish criminal courts, which calls for reform as outstanding scheduled High Court trials hit a record high, Scottish Labour Justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill, left,  said: “This damning report lays bare the pressure on our courts and the chaos it is causing across our justice system.  

“Victims of the most serious crimes are facing shamefully long waits for justice on the SNP’s watch. “Our courts are under pressure, frontline policing has faced damaging cuts, and prisons are at breaking point – it’s not good enough.  

“The SNP must listen to the Auditor General and set out a permanent plan to tackle the shameful backlog in our courts and get our justice system back on track.

“High Court outstanding scheduled trials have grown continuously since the pandemic and are at an unprecedented level.

“At the end of 2019/20, the number was 390. This increased to 687 by the end of 2022/23 (a rise of 76 per cent), and to 1,002 by the end of 2025/26 (a rise of 157 per cent from 2019/20).”