The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service provided an update from the on 20 January 2021 outlining that seven sheriff courts will now run jury trials linked to remote jury centres. A step forward for addressing the court backlog, but is it enough? In this post, we look at why continued innovation and creativity is required.
Debbie Wilson, Convener of the Law Society of Scotland Criminal Law Committee said:
“It is great to see this update on expanding access to jury centres across mainland Scotland. The benefits of using non-court buildings during the pandemic to allow social distancing, is something we recognised early on in the discussions about how to progress criminal court business. This is exactly the kind of creative solution we need to see more of to address the court backlog.”
Richard Susskind earlier this year criticised the legal sector for failing to continue to push for such creative solutions when it comes to hearings.
Professor Susskind said that we must recognise ‘that a video hearing is not a fundamental transformation or shift in paradigm, as some people want to say’.
His statement matched the opinion of the Lord Chief Justice’s IT adviser who said that Zoom meetings have not radically transformed the justice system.
Susskind argued that courts must move beyond their primary decision-making function through technology. Speaking at the International Bar Association’s annual conference, he said:
‘I believe the state should be helping parties online understand their rights and obligations; understand the options available to them. The state should be online providing tools to help them organise their evidence to formulate and present their arguments,’
Debbie Wilson echoed this sentiment when discussing the most recent update, saying:
“The vast majority of court business does not involve juries and there are still witnesses, accused and complainers left uncertain about when the cases involving them are to be resolved. We continue to engage positively with our criminal justice partners in discussions to find workable solutions which, importantly, ensure the safety of all court users.”