More Witnesses to Give Recorded Evidence as Part of Scottish Court Reform

More witnesses in Scotland will be permitted to give evidence electronically allowing them to avoid attending court. The move is part of what is being seen as a radical shake-up of the Scottish legal system. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), have recently published a report which calls for the justice system to be sped up through the use of technology in the summary courts, which deal with less serious cases. The result of these changes would be that the accused in such cases would not need to attend court for procedural hearings, and also, that witnesses would not be required to testify in person.

The proposals were part of the report Evidence and Procedure Review – Next Steps, published earlier this month. The report will now go to the Scottish Government for consideration.
Chief executive of SCTS, Eric McQueen, said:

“For too long it has been easy to describe our criminal courts as products of the Victorian age. This report recommends that we use technology to allow children and vulnerable witnesses to give their evidence, and have it examined, out with the pressures of the court environment.”

The report also recommends modernizing the criminal justice system through a new digital case management system; it is hoped that not only will this bring the system into the 21st century, but will hopefully improve the efficiency of the system. The use of digital technology will assist in speeding up the 140,000 summary cases passing through the Scottish legal system each year by reducing the number of witnesses cited to appear in court and will also reduce the number of repeated hearings.

Also, it has also been recommended that technology is installed in courts to allow children and other vulnerable witnesses to give evidence without feeling the pressures of the court environment.

Convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Criminal Law Committee, Ian Cruickshank, outlines the society’s concerns and support for the matter. He said:
“We would support using recorded statements taken within minutes or a few hours from an event taking place, rather than relying on witness accounts many months or even years after the event. However, it will be essential to ensure that evidence can be properly tested.”

The report identified the digital transformation would allow cases to be created, stored, and managed digitally increasing speed efficiency and even the quality of the decision-making process. The new system would allow for many cases to be processed administratively, through a rigorous case management process, with only contested or disputed issues being called before a Sherriff. It will be interesting to see how the digitalization works in practice and whether this will improve the justice system for those accused of a crime and witnesses to a crime.

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