Scotland's first virtual court

Scotland's first 'virtual' legal case will be held tomorrow at the Sheriff Court is Inverness.

Due to coronavirus the court is currently the venue for all legal cases from Moray.

Now the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is using a civil hearing on Tuesday to enable all the parties to appear before Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle in a virtual courtroom.

Video links have been used in sheriff courts since the start of the coronavirus outbreak for custody proceedings with the accused appearing from police cells.

But this will be the first ever time in Scotland that all the legal arguments by the parties will be conducted by video.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service said: "Coronavirus has had an enormous impact on court business, with urgent and essential business being prioritised within the government’s current lockdown arrangements.

"With these restrictions in place, we have been working hard with sheriffs principal and the Law Society of Scotland to extend the services we can offer, as well as planning on how we safely move into the next phase as soon as the lockdown restrictions ease.

"With social distancing likely to remain in place for some time, we need to make the best use of technology to enable cases to proceed as safely and as quickly as possible."

Sheriff Principal Pyle said: “In these unprecedented times, it is remarkable how quickly the courts, judiciary and legal profession have grasped the nettle of technology to find solutions. There is still a long way to go, but the hearing this week is another step along a road which, over the coming months should revolutionise the way in which sheriff court civil proceedings are conducted.”

Click here for news from Moray

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.