Scottish courts to look at doing more virtual hearings in a bid to cut the case backlog

In recent months there have been significant delays in cases being brought to court, and proceedings have been going on late into the night across Scotland.

As well as dealing with the backlog of cases caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the courts and prison services have been hit by prison escort staff shortages.

These escorts are provided by contractors GeoAmey, but solicitor Matthew McGovern says there have been times Hamilton Sheriff Court has finished at 10pm because they have not been able to get prisoners escorted to the court on time.

Mr McGovern said this should be treated as a “national crisis”, adding it is putting many talented people off becoming criminal defence lawyers.

Jury trials on the islands have also been halted because of this, with cases instead being sent to Inverness, Peterhead and Aberdeen sheriff courts on the mainland.

Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, wrote to the Justice Secretary Angela Constance demanding the Scottish Government steps in and sorts it out.

Earlier this week Thomas Kerr KC warned prisoners on remand could take legal action against them because the delays in having their cases heard could be a breach of their human rights.

Now the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said it is looking at the option of having more prisoners having their hearings done remotely to remove the need for a prison escort to take them to a courtroom.

A spokesman said: “The late arrival of custodies and delays in bringing custodies from cell areas to courtrooms are now being compounded by similar delays in bringing the accused from prisons to court hearings.

“This is leading to the cancellation of hearings, trial delays and courts sitting into the evening.

“All of this is having a significant impact on the running of our criminal courts and the recovery programme, including the planned reinstatement of sheriff and jury trials to the island courts.”

The spokesperson added the service also has concerns about the wellbeing of those forced to work late into the night to keep up with the demand.

They added: “Consequently, we are urgently assessing options and working with the Scottish Government and justice organisations to help alleviate this critical situation, including accelerating the use of virtual custodies to reduce the movement of those in custody.”

A spokesman for GeoAmey said its staff shortages are due to the “challenging UK labour market”, but added the majority of their police escorts are done on time.

They added: “Since 2019, GeoAmey has successfully transported 90 per cent of prisoners to their scheduled location on time, with less than one per cent of movements cancelled or unfulfilled as a result of GeoAmey failure.

“There is no question that there are systemic issues within the criminal justice system which are resulting in court users experiencing a sub-optimal level of service.

“For example, to clear backlogs in cases caused by the pandemic, court activity has increased at a rate which challenges the existing infrastructure.”

They added: “GeoAmey will continue to collaborate with our partners to overcome such challenges, as we are committed to playing our part in clearing the backlog of 50,000 cases caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”