The first virtual court hearings in Scotland were held last week and involved three judges, the clerk of court, and counsel.

Following the success of this project, the court is now able to provide further access to include interested members of the public.

Information on future Inner House cases can be found on the Court of Session rolls, and anyone seeking live audio access to an appeal hearing should contact Judicial Communications. They will be provided with the unique number for the case they are interested in.

Those participating are subject to the same rules as if they were present in court. Anyone failing to obey or respect the authority of the court may be subject to contempt of court proceedings. In particular, those accessing a hearing:

• must not record or store the proceedings
• must not broadcast the proceedings
• must not, during the course of a hearing, comment on the proceedings using live texted based communications (such as Twitter).

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service retains the copyright of live audio recordings of court proceedings. Although you are welcome to listen to the proceedings, the re-use, capture, re-editing or redistribution of the material in any form is not permitted. You should be aware that any such use could attract liability for breach of copyright or defamation, in addition to the possibility of contempt of court proceedings.