This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Drug courts to continue
30/03/2006
Ministers today gave the go-ahead for the continuation of Scotland's two drug courts in Glasgow and Fife.
The courts, set up in Glasgow in 2001 and in Fife in 2002, were the first of their kind in the UK. The respective steering groups will now look at addressing procedural differences in the two courts and work to develop a consistent approach that shares the strengths of each. Their success and effectiveness will be reviewed again after a further three years.
Speaking as the Executive published new research on the operation of both courts, Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry said:
"Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing condition that leads almost inevitably to chaotic lives of crime. Recovery is a long process but if we can get people into effective treatment, allowing lifestyles to stabilise, then we can reduce offending behaviour and make our communities safer and stronger.
"Five years ago we set up the drug court in Glasgow - the first in the UK and the second in Europe. We wanted to give offenders with established drug misuse problems the chance to rise to the challenge of addressing their problems. At the heart of the drugs court is the principle that it is more effective for criminal justice agencies to work together with social work, health and addictions services in dealing with those responsible for drug related crime.
"The report published today provides encouragement that the positive lessons learned from the drug courts can be valuable right across the summary justice system. The report is broadly positive, finding that a sizeable proportion of individuals made subject to Drug Court Orders were able to achieve and sustain reductions in drug use and associated offending behaviour.
"The report also finds that offenders who completed their Orders had fewer convictions in the two years after being made subject to an Order than in the two years immediately before, and that there was and is widespread support for the drug courts both from those working within them and from other criminal justice professionals, such as Sheriffs sitting in other courts.
"On this basis, we have decided that both drug courts will now continue. They will operate a composite model that will embrace the strengths of both existing models. The position of the drug courts will then be reviewed in three years time against the progress made with the summary justice reforms.
"There are however clear lessons to be learned from the success of the drug courts - about successful multi-agency working, about working to shared agendas and about the benefits of adopting a problem solving approach to delivery. We will apply these lessons across Scotland and take them forward through the reducing reoffending agenda and through the summary justice reforms.
"At present there is no plan for further drug courts given the national coverage of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders - diaposals which incorporate the most important features of the drug court and which have been shown to have success in dealing with this client group.
"Drug courts provide us with a valuable learning opportunity that will allow us to continue to develop intensive interventions to help people with complex and deeply entrenched drug problems to turn their lives around and turn their backs on crime."
Drug courts were initially developed in the USA in the late 1980s. They have since been developed in Australia, Canada and Ireland. Scotland's first drug court was established in Glasgow Sheriff Court in October 2001 and a second pilot drug ourt was introduced in Fife in August 2002. The Fife drug court sits in Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Sheriff Courts. Scotland leads the UK and much of the rest of Europe in the drug court field.
Both drug courts are aimed at offenders aged 21 years or over and for whom there is an established relationship between a pattern of serious drug misuse and offending. They aim to reduce the level of drug-related offending behaviour and to reduce or eliminate offenders' dependence on or propensity to use drugs. Multi-professional and multi-agency working are key characteristics of the drug court.
All orders made by the courts - Probation Orders or Drug Treatment and Testing Orders - are subject to drug testing and regular review.
Research published today has found that:
- A sizeable proportion of drug court clients were able to achieve and sustain reductions in drug use and associated offending with 47 per cent of offenders completing their Orders in Glasgow and 30 per cent in Fife.
- 50 per cent of drug court clients had not been reconvicted within one year and 29 per cent within two years of completing their order
The report and the research findings are available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/100021/0024203.pdf and http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47121/0020290.pdf and at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications
Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) were first introduced in Glasgow and Fife in 2000 and in Aberdeen in 2001. In October 2003, Ministers announced the roll-out of DTTOs to all areas of Scotland. DTTOs are a high tariff disposal for offenders who might otherwise receive a custodial sentence. The Order contains features including a requirement for regular reviews by the court to enable sentencers to monitor progress and a requirement that the offender consent to regular, random drug tests throughout the Order
Monitoring information suggests that the DTTO concept appears to be operating successfully as a high tariff disposal for offenders who might otherwise have received custodial sentences. A full evaluation of the DTTO initiative - Drug Treatment and Testing Orders: Evaluation of the Scottish Pilots - was published in October 2004.
A DTTO is a court order while the drug court is a specialist court with a dedicated support team and expert sheriffs. The DTTO is a key feature of the drug court but not the only one. The drug court also has pre-review hearings, interim sanctions, and can impose other orders such as Enhanced Probation and Structured Deferred Sentences. The DTTO can be imposed by any Sheriff Court and encompasses some - but not all - of the common features of the drug court.