First virtual sheriff court hearing set to take place

A commercial case in Inverness will provide the first opportunity to test virtual hearings within Scotland’s sheriff courts.

Tuesday’s hearing at Inverness Sheriff Court will enable all parties in the case to appear before Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle in a virtual courtroom.

Video links have been used in sheriff courts since the start of the coronavirus outbreak to conduct custody proceedings with the accused appearing from police cells.

This will be the first virtual sheriff court, hearing arguments by the parties hosted on a new video platform.

A spokesperson from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service stated that Covid-19 has had “an enormous impact on court business”, with urgent and essential business being prioritised within the Government’s current lockdown arrangements.

The spokesperson added: “With these restrictions in place, we have been working hard with sheriffs principal and the Law Society of Scotland to extend the services we can offer, as well as planning on how we safely move into the next phase as soon as the lockdown restrictions ease.

“With social distancing likely to remain in place for some time, we need to make the best use of technology to enable cases to proceed as safely and as quickly as possible.”

Virtual courts were successfully introduced in the Court of Session Inner House at the end of April and will shortly be extended to the Outer House, replacing the current telephone hearings.

Sheriff Principal Pyle said: “In these unprecedented times, it is remarkable how quickly the courts, judiciary and legal profession have grasped the nettle of technology to find solutions.

“There is still a long way to go, but the hearing this week is another step along a road which, over the coming months, should revolutionise the way in which sheriff court civil proceedings are conducted.”