Cooler heads prevail following Edinburgh Sheriff Court incident

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and the Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) released a joint statement following an incident on Saturday in which a solicitor was removed from Edinburgh Sheriff Court by police.

The organisations said they “wish to restore the previous good working relationship between justice partners”.

The statement added: “The incident was unprecedented and there are clearly lessons to be learned from it. Whilst the specific facts remain subject to further enquiry, it is agreed that the potential for any future similar incident should be avoided through early communication and engagement between justice partners.”

It said the “the discussions in the public forum over the last few days have been unhelpful in drawing the issue created by the recent events to a resolution”, concluding that everyone should “recommence working together in the spirit of collaboration”.