News Summary
Scotland has launched a new initiative called Summary Case Management (SCM) aimed at streamlining the handling of shoplifting cases. Starting from December 16, 2025, Police Scotland will be required to send evidence directly to the Crown Office, promoting quick resolutions. This effort involves multiple agencies and aims to clear court backlogs, making the legal process more efficient. With the rise in retail crime, the SCM expansion hopes to address growing concerns and provide stronger support for retailers.
Big News for Shopkeepers! Scotland Ramps Up Fight Against Shoplifting with Smart New Plan
Good news for retailers and anyone concerned about fairness in the justice system! A major new legal push to handle shoplifting cases more smoothly and quickly has just been rolled out across the country. As of yesterday, December 16, 2025, a brilliant initiative called Summary Case Management (SCM), which is led by judges, now includes shoplifting offences. The whole idea is to speed up court decisions and clear out those pesky backlogs that can clog up the system.
This isn’t a solo effort, though! It’s a huge team project involving some key players: Police Scotland, the folks at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) (they’re the prosecutors), defence lawyers, groups that help victims, and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS). This expansion builds on the fantastic results of the SCM pilot, which has already shown how much faster cases can be resolved for other types of less serious crimes, especially those involving domestic abuse. The core principle? Get evidence in and shared early, aiming for quick solutions and fewer unnecessary trips to court for everyone involved.
How Does This New Plan Work for Shoplifting?
Under this expanded initiative, when a shoplifting incident is reported, Police Scotland now has a fresh requirement. They need to send important evidence, like any video footage that caught the crime, directly to the Crown Office right from the start. This crucial evidence then gets passed on to the defence team super fast. The main aim is to get the prosecutors and the defence lawyers talking and working together early on, hopefully leading to a resolution the very first time the case comes to court.
The hope is that this proactive approach will lead to a significant increase in the number of shoplifting cases that are sorted out at their first court appearance. Think about it – not only does this speed up the whole legal process, but it also means fewer witnesses, including police officers and retail staff, will be called to court unnecessarily. That’s a huge relief, especially for smaller shops where staff time is precious. A trial run in Dundee previously showed just how effective getting video evidence early can be in making shoplifting cases much easier to manage and resolve.
A Proven Success Story: What is Summary Case Management?
The Summary Case Management (SCM) pilot first kicked off way back in September 2022. It started in Sheriff Courts in Dundee, Hamilton, and Paisley. After proving to be a big hit, it was later extended to Glasgow and Perth earlier this year. An evaluation of how the pilot went revealed some truly impressive results: cases in these courts were resolved much faster, which made a big difference for victims and witnesses.
In fact, the pilot had such a positive impact that over 500 summary (non-jury) trials didn’t even need to be scheduled over a 19-month period, all thanks to SCM! Plus, it’s estimated that around 18,000 witness citations – that’s about 11,000 for police officers alone – were avoided during the same time frame. The great news is that the positive effects of SCM are expected to spread across all Sheriff Courts in the country by early 2026.
Tackling Big Picture Challenges: Court Backlogs and Digital Upgrades
This initiative is part of a much bigger effort to tackle the backlog of criminal court cases, a problem that got a lot worse because of the Covid-19 pandemic. To manage this challenge, the government set up the Criminal Justice Board (CJB) in April 2020. This board has been overseeing the justice system’s response to the pandemic and leading the ‘Recover, Renew and Transform’ (RRT) programme. Essentially, the CJB plays a super important role in guiding the ongoing transformation of the entire criminal justice system.
Lending a huge helping hand to these reforms is the incredible Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC). This is a world-leading, £33 million government initiative designed to share digital evidence seamlessly, right from the crime scene all the way to the courtroom. DESC is a secure, all-in-one platform that allows police, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff, and judges to collect, store, process, and manage all sorts of digital evidence. We’re talking about everything from CCTV footage and photographs to data from mobile devices. This cutting-edge system is all about modernizing and streamlining the justice process, ultimately aiming for faster and more effective case resolutions.
The DESC system dramatically cuts down on the need to physically transfer evidence, saving significant time for both police and witnesses, and allowing for more focused and timely investigations. Members of the public and businesses can also easily submit digital evidence through a secure link provided by a police officer. This game-changing system is expected to be fully rolled out across the country by autumn 2025.
Why Now? The Rise of Retail Crime and a Dedicated Taskforce
The decision to extend the SCM initiative to shoplifting cases comes at a critical time, as concerns about retail crime have been growing. Shoplifting figures have unfortunately seen a significant jump, rising by 17% compared to the previous year and a staggering 124% since June 2021.
In response to this worrying trend, Police Scotland has also launched a dedicated Retail Crime Taskforce. This taskforce is backed by £3 million in funding from the government for the 2025/26 financial year. It operates with a four-pronged approach: prevent, pursue, protect, and prepare. It specifically targets repeat offenders using smart analytical data and intelligence, especially in areas experiencing high levels of retail crime such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Lanarkshire. The taskforce will make full use of the DESC system to achieve quicker criminal justice outcomes for those charged with retail crimes.
A Brighter Future for Justice and Retail
With the expansion of the Summary Case Management initiative to include shoplifting, alongside the innovative Digital Evidence Sharing Capability and the dedicated Retail Crime Taskforce, the country is clearly making significant strides towards a more efficient and effective criminal justice system. These combined efforts promise to accelerate legal outcomes, reduce burdens on courts and witnesses, and importantly, provide stronger support for retailers battling the rise in crime.
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