ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research would not have been possible but for the co-operation of all interviewees who gave extensively of their time and of their experience of the Scottish summary justice system. The requirements of anonymity preclude naming the 100 interviewees. We are most grateful to them all for their openness and generosity. The statistical analyses are based on disaggregated data files supplied by the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for which we are grateful.
This study was assisted and advised by a Research Advisory Group established by the Scottish Executive Justice Department. The group was chaired by a senior official in the Justice Department and included representatives of: the Scottish Legal Aid Board, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the Law Society, the Justice Department, defence bar associations, the judiciary; and, two independent academic experts in this field of enquiry (namely, Professor Peter Duff and Professor Roger Bowles). From the outset and throughout the study, members of this Research Advisory Group commented on the structure and process of the research; as well as on specific tools of the research (such as interview and survey schedules), and again on the draft report. We are most grateful to the members of that group for their comments and suggestions.
We would like to acknowledge the contribution made to the research reported here by three members of the core research team. Lorraine Sweeney conducted and transcribed most of the face-to-face interviews with 'stakeholders', defence agents and members of the procurator fiscal service and the in-depth telephone interviews of defence agents and depute fiscals. Giorgio Fazio carried out all of the statistical modelling. Alex Christie organized and managed both telephone surveys and the postal survey of defence agents. All three contributed to early drafts of the Appendices. Lisa McCloy and Jenny Scott assisted with the conduct of the telephone interviews. We are also grateful to Lynne Hilly for transcribing the 100 plus interviews.
Our project manager at the Scottish Executive, Debbie Headrick, has carried out, with her usual good humour and tact, the difficult task of protecting our academic independence whilst ensuring that a worthwhile piece of policy-relevant research is completed.
Finally, we wish to acknowledge several individuals, (not all of whom wish to be named), who generously agreed to our request to read an earlier draft of this report on a confidential basis and without fear or favour. In particular, two very experienced sheriffs offered a range of valuable observations and suggested a range of improvements. We are also grateful to several experienced defence lawyers and fiscals who agreed to discuss candidly various aspects of this research. Among the academic experts in this field who assisted this research, we wish particularly to thank Dr Tamara Goriely whose thorough advice on all aspects of an earlier draft of this report was enormously helpful. We also wish to thank Professor Ed Cape, Professor Hilary Somerlad, Professor Peter Duff, Professor Lee Bridges, and Professor Roger Bowles for their assistance with and suggestions on various aspects of the research reported here.
Any remaining errors or omissions are, of course, ours alone.
Frank H Stephen, Cyrus Tata, 2005.