SCTS News

Reiach and Hall Architects won the architectural excellence award for public use for The Inverness Justice Centre at The Scottish Property Awards 2021.

The Court of Session public holiday schedule for 2022 has been amended to allow for a four-day holiday weekend to commemorate Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The Criminal Justice Board is developing proposals to recover, renew and transform Scotland’s justice system in the wake of the extensive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a first step, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has announced plans to commence a court recovery programme from September 2021.

A cross-justice Review Group, chaired by the Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, has recommended that a new, national specialist Court with trauma-informed procedures be created to deal with serious sexual offence cases in Scotland.

Since the Government’s national lockdown restrictions were implemented in January, criminal courts have focussed on the most serious trials, with the majority of summary trials in the Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court adjourned. Having reviewed the COVID-19 transmission levels and the vaccine roll-out, the Lord President has announced that there can be a cautious and incremental easing of the current criminal court restrictions.