Scts

The Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC) has approved new rules which will allow the use of Civil Online Procedure claim forms. The change means that from 1 December 2020, if agents or party litigants wish to submit a simple procedure claim this will have to be done through Civil Online.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) has announced that its new Application Programming Interface (API) for the Civil Online service is ready for a wider rollout. Civil Online, which was launched in April 2019, is a fully digital service for simple procedure cases, enabling cases to proc

Lawyers in Aberdeen have called for temporary courtrooms to be established to help tackle the increasing backlog of cases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as sheriff and jury trials have still not resumed. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) recently announced plans to restart High

Plans to conduct High Court trials using remote jury centres are now underway and the first trials are expected to start at the end of September. Following the recommendation from Lady Dorrian's Restarting Solemn Trials Working Group, the first trials will be based in selected ODEON cinemas and are

Outstanding Sheriff Court summary trials have increased by 28 per to 17,818, the latest figures from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) show. The ninth statistical bulletin from the SCTS contains quarterly figures on activity in all High, Sheriff, Justice of the Peace and criminal

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is asking all users to wear a face covering in public and communal areas of its buildings from 31 August. You should bring your own face covering if you can. Suitable face coverings can be provided if required.

Following a successful inaugural virtual court, the Bail Appeal Court will now convene daily with the presiding appeal sheriff, clerk of court, prosecutor and defence counsel or solicitors all participating remotely. Traditionally the Bail Court sat in Edinburgh, originally in the High Court and mor

Juries in High Court trials in Scotland will convene in cinemas to hear cases remotely in the autumn. The Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, has approved the recommendation from the Restarting Solemn Trials Working Group to create remote jury centres in cinemas.

The Civil Justice Committee of the Law Society of Scotland has called on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to urgently review a decision to refuse paper-based simple procedure actions. SCTS has confirmed to the Law Society that, except in exceptional circumstances, simp

The volume of trials scheduled in Scotland has risen by 14 per cent in a year.

Arrangements are being put in place to reopen court and tribunal buildings next week as part of phase 1 of the Scottish government's COVID-19 Routemap. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) plans to gradually reintroduce a small number of staff and judiciary to buildings currently closed.

The collection rate for Scotland's new victim surcharge penalty stands at 66 per cent, according to figures from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). The 44th quarterly fines report is the first to include information about the collection of the penalty, which was introduced by the

Sheriff courts can now proceed to hear and dispose of cases where it is agreed by parties that they can be resolved without the need for a trial. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, criminal court business in Scotland is currently limited to urgent and essential business which includes custody hearings

An Inverness Sheriff Court commercial case will provide the first opportunity to test the use of virtual court hearings in Scotland’s sheriff courts.  Tuesday’s hearing will enable parties in the case to appear before Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle in a virtual courtroom.

Dr Sophie Flemig has been appointed to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Board. Dr Flemig is the chief executive of Cattanach, an independent funder supporting work with infants and very young children. Before this she was the director of public policy at the Scottish Legal Complaints Commis