Viki Welton, District Procurator Fiscal for a vast sheriffdom which covers courts in Duns, Selkirk, Jedburgh and Peebles, believes the new, streamlined system of handling offences and their perpetrators will ease the frustration and anxiety of delays which these diverse groups currently experience.
And a more efficient, expedient way of carrying out so-called summary justice – non-jury prosecutions which account for more than 90 per cent of all those currently taking place in Scotland – will allow prosecutors such as Ms Welton and her team to better serve the public interest by concentrating on more serious offences.
Around 6,000 cases a year are reported to the Procurator Fiscal in the Borders alone. Many are road traffic offences which are not covered by the reforms in the new Scottish legislation.
A high proportion, however, involve first-time offenders or petty criminals accused of relatively minor offences from graffiti vandalism and opportunist shoplifting to alcohol-induced breach of the peace.
Where such miscreants could have previously expected to go through an already over-burdened court system, the new measures are designed to filter them away from the dock.
"The intention is to speed up court processes and make them more effective," explained Ms Welton.
"We want to tackle cases outwith the criminal justice system which really do not need to go to court."
A key element of the reforms is the new power vested in fiscals to take so-called direct measures, including offering alleged offenders a "fiscal fine" of up to £300 as an alternative to court.
Compensation deals of up to £5,000 to be paid to victims can be similarly offered. If the culprit does not opt for court within 28 days – in the almost certain knowledge that, if found or later pleading guilty in a court, the sentence is likely to be much stiffer – then he or she will not incur a criminal record.
Under the new act, responsibility for collecting such fines, like those imposed by sheriffs or JPs, is delegated to Fines Enforcement Officers who ultimately can arrest wages or benefits. This will obviate the need for a non-payer to return to court, often via an arrest warrant.
"I wish to reassure the public such fines are unlikely be offered to repeat offenders and anyone subject to a court order, such as deferred sentence, bail or community service order," said Ms Welton. "But by reducing the time between a crime being committed and punishment meted, thus strengthening the link between the two events, we hope it will deter further re-offending. Obviously, in terms of compensation, it also brings a quicker resolution for victims.
"For first offenders, it means a moment of stupidity, possibly drink-induced, does not see them lumbered with a criminal record for the rest of their lives."
The pressure on courts will also be eased with new police powers to require those charged with an offence and released on an "undertaking" to appear in court to comply with specific conditions, such as staying away from an area, until their first appearance in court. The resultant speedier processing of court business means witnesses are more likely to remember exactly what happened.
Ms Welton added: "Sometimes reluctant to report a crime in the first place, witnesses are rightly annoyed when they have to wait many months for the case to come to trial or, as occasionally happens, they turn up for a trial which does not go ahead when the defendant changes his plea at the last minute."
There is certainly no shortage of business for the judiciary in the Borders. This week, alone, there will be a total of 11 sheriff court sittings across the four towns, along with two JP courts. These latter courts, previously called district courts and administered by Scottish Borders Council, have now been embraced by the Scottish Court Service.
Ms Welton admits the measures will give her, along with her two deputes, Juliet Petrusev and Alasdair Fay, more time to prepare for trials and serious cases, such as assaults, across the sheriffdom. Fiscals are also responsible for determining the causes of all suspicious and sudden deaths, in some cases conducting Fatal Accident Inquiries before a sheriff.
Educated in Ayr and Edinburgh, Ms Welton trained as a fiscal in Aberdeen and prosecuted in courts serving large and small communities across the north-east. She then worked in the policy team of the Crown Office (Scotland's prosecution headquarters) and, before coming to the Borders, was a trainer at Tulliallan Police College, versing raw recruits and senior officers on court procedure and criminal law.
She said: "One of the things I love about my job, and the reason I never wanted to do anything else, is the positive impact you can have on people, particularly the victims of crime.
"Borderers are righly proud of where they live and they don't want to see the aesthetics of their community blighted by anti-social behaviour, vandalism, drunk public disorder and the like.
"I am hopeful the early intervention which these measures allow for will have a positive impact on such quality of life issues."