ABSTRACT
In the past the view has been commonly held that in Scotland the use of the expression ‘criminal justice system’ was misleading since there was no ‘system’ worthy of the name, only a criminal justice ‘process’ to which contribution was made by a mixture of national and local organisations, central and local government bodies, nondepartmental bodies, and charitable organisations. The word ‘system’ is suggestive of a collective entity, serving a common purpose, whose many elements co-operate and work together. However, in Scotland criminal justice was delivered by providers who were only loosely related to one another and who each had its own differing perspective, views and policies. One of the achievements of devolution in Scotland has been that the different partners in the criminal justice process now work more closely together than previously, and key players in the changed situation are Scotland’s police.
