Courts launch workshop series on evidence and procedure proposals

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has launched a programme of workshops on changes to the rules of criminal evidence and trial procedure oproposed in the recently published review by Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice Clerk.

Lord Carloway's review, which proposed the greater use of pre-recorded evidence and enhanced case management in criminal trials to narrow down the areas on which witnesses would be led in court, along with new practices for taking evidence from children (click here for report), is to form the basis of a series of discussions over the summer as a means of developing his proposals further.

Speaking at a launch event for the review, the Lord Justice Clerk emphasised that the review was "a research exercise carried out internally by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service”, and “is therefore not a fully developed, fully costed and evaluated set of policy proposals… Now is the time to start testing out the propositions in the report with those such as you who know and understand how the legal system works here in Scotland”.

With some practitioners having expressed concerns over preserving the right to cross-examine, Lord Carloway made it clear that the report keeps this in mind, but considers how it can be preserved and used with more focus and to greater effectiveness. Some of the workshop sessions will look at how best to ensure fairness in trial procedures where pre-recorded evidence is used.

Other issues include the need for “safety valves”, for example if new evidence comes to light, and how these would work in practice. For the benefit of the child or vulnerable adult in particular, it is important that in the main there are not numerous attempts at examination and cross-examination; however, it is just as important to ensure that there are the appropriate safeguards in place to allow further questioning if required.

Cases of alleged historic abuse of children will also be given special attention.

It is hoped that the workshop events will enable the report’s propositions to be moulded and shaped into conclusions that will be presented later in the year to the Scottish Government, for it to decide on what reforms it wishes to pursue.

Click here for details of the workshops, which will take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Click here for Lord Carloway's speech at the launch event. An interview with Lord Carloway, discussing the review, will be published in the June edition of the Journal.