Courts doing business despite industrial action

No courts in Scotland have closed today, despite industrial action by civil servants protesting against Scottish Government spending cuts, Scottish Court Service has announced.

The courts administration said that "joint planning with justice partners" had ensured that no cases were lost, although some business has been adjourned to allow essential business to proceed in the Supreme Courts, sheriff courts and justice of the peace courts.

However some court offices including Glasgow appear to be closed, with recorded messages awaiting callers by phone. An earlier statement on the SCS website that papers due today in affected courts would be accepted tomorrow, no longer appears.

Court staff are protesting against ongoing pay restraint as well as the programme of court closures, the final round of which takes effect this week with Dingwall, Haddington, Peebles and Duns Sheriff Courts hearing or having already heard their last cases.

Lynn Henderson, Scottish secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union called on Michael Matheson, the new Justice Secretary, to "use whatever influence he has" to feed back the level of discontent into cabinet discussions on the budget.