Venues confirmed for first remote sheriff court juries

Remote jury centres for sheriff court trials in Glasgow and Edinburgh have been confirmed, as Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service advances its plans to restart sheriff and jury cases across the country.

For trials running in Glasgow Sheriff Court, six juries will be based remotely in Glasgow Quay.  For trials running initially in Edinburgh Sheriff Court and then Livingston Sheriff Court, three juries will be based remotely in Lothian Road, Edinburgh. Both remote jury centres are in Odeon cinema complexes. Odeon cinemas are also being used to accommodate remote juries in High Court trials, which have already restarted.

Not all venues being investigated for sheriff court jury centres are cinemas, and not all cinemas considered are Odeon venues. SCTS is now seeking to conclude contracts to allow the other four sheriffdoms to plan for a restart of sheriff and jury business in the new year. It is hoped that trials will begin in Glasgow and Edinburgh by this December.

Tim Barraclough, director, Judicial Office for Scotland, said the working group under Sheriff Principal Turnbull, set up to oversee the restart of sheriff and jury trials, was building on what had been learned from the High Court "to develop a model that will allow trials to proceed fairly, effectively and safely across Scotland. Progress so far has been very encouraging".