Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

5.2.32 The sheriffs principal and sheriffs may be encouraged to take on some role inoverseeing Article 5 compliance within their sheriffdoms. Unless there issome extraordinary feature preventing it, a person should be appearing in court,at the very latest, within thirty six hours of arrest, whatever day of the weekthat arrest occurs upon. Indeed, the system should be working towards ashorter timetable. If all of this means that a limited number of procuratorsfiscal, and possibly some defence agents and sheriff courts, have to operate atweekends and on public holidays, then, like all necessary public services, thatis what must happen. With modern technology, it should not be necessary tohave every court, or even most courts, open for the purposes of a firstappearance, nor is there a need for the suspect or legal representatives toattend court in person in every situation, especially if the suspect is in a ruralpolice station. But steps ought to be put in place to see that, if it is practicablefor a person to appear in court on a Saturday, or even a Sunday, so that he/shecan be either liberated or remanded to prison, that is what does happen. TheReview understands that there may be financial implications involved on thisaspect of the report, but the costs ought to be mitigated by savings inconnection with releasing persons from custody and reducing week day hours.The Review is not recommending additional work, only a reorganisation of thetiming of when the existing work is done.Conclusion5.2.33 It is important to maintain the central principle that persons suspected of anoffence are not unnecessarily or disproportionately kept in custody. This isthe principle established in part in section 17 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967116