S1W-22602: How many High Court cases in (a) Scotland and (b) each court have been postponed on the day of commencement due to technicalities or other …

The question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many High Court cases in (a) Scotland and (b) each court have been postponed on the day of commencement due to technicalities or other reasons and what the estimated cost was resulting from such postponements in each case, in each of the past three years and in the current year.

The answer

Answered by Jim Wallace on 14 Feb 2002 · 14 days after it was lodged, on time

Postponement of cases in the High Court is a statutory procedure which takes place before the start of a trial and no statistics of such postponements are collected.However, the table which follows sets out the number of indictments registered in the High Court over the last three years, the number of cases which had a plea of guilty tendered before evidence was commenced, the number of cases which proceeded to have evidence led, and the balance of cases which did not proceed either prior to, or on the day of trial, for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include cases not proceeding due to witness unavailability, not called in court or deserted by the Crown, or cases where a warrant is issued for the accused among other things.No information on the costs of postponements is collected. | High Court
1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01
Indictments Registered | 1,154 | 1,478 | 1,343
Guilty plea tendered | 601 | 738 | 616
Evidence-led trials | 412 | 407 | 462
Balance of cases | 141 | 333 | 265

In the Official Report

No contribution in the Official Report cites S1W-22602 by reference.