Claims made by this week that criminal trials scheduled to take place at Dumfries Sheriff Court have been adjourned until the summer because of a shortage of court personnel related to the moving of jury trials to Ayr are entirely untrue say Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service .
A Spokesperson from Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said “No summary trials at Dumfries or at Stranraer Sheriff Courts have been adjourned because of a shortage of staff and no summary trials have been adjourned as a result of the introduction of the remote jury centre linked to Ayr Sheriff Court.
A small number of summary cases at Dumfries have been adjourned for unrelated reasons. These cases were adjourned due to changes made to the structured court programme.
It has not been possible to conduct sheriff court jury trials since March 2020 as a result of the strict physical distancing restrictions in place in our court buildings. This has had a heavy impact on victims, witnesses and accused and in these unprecedented circumstances, an unprecedented response is required to restart jury trials and tackle the backlog.
Working with the judiciary, legal profession and third sector, we have introduced a highly innovative approach by having jurors based in remote jury centres within cinema complexes.
Remote jury centres require an incredibly complex technical solution and it is not one that can be replicated in every court in Scotland. Therefore we have had to make decisions to create remote jury centres in each Sheriffdom linked to a smaller number of courts to ensure we can get as many trials started as possible, while the physical distancing restrictions are in place.
Our key priority is always the health and safety of all court users. Our courts have operated safely since reopening with physical distancing measures and robust hygiene measures in place. We rigorously follow Public Health Scotland guidance to minimise the spread of Coronavirus and have an enhanced cleaning regime in all our buildings.
“The importance of keeping the justice system working has been recognised by the Scottish Government, who have determined that courts and tribunals should remain open as essential services, across all 5 of the COVID protection levels, including that presently in place nationally.
“In order to significantly minimise the need for travel, jurors will not have to travel from the Dumfries or Stranraer districts to attend the remote jury centre. Jurors attending the Ayr centre will be cited from Ayr’s jurisdiction. Similarly, where the Defence and the Crown agree, and the Sheriff has determined it is appropriate, witnesses can give evidence remotely from Dumfries or Stranraer Sheriff Courts to avoid the need to travel to Ayr.”
