Covid-related rules allowing virtual court or tribunal hearings in Scotland should be extended beyond March 2022, Scottish Government proposes

Consultation on Covid recovery policy also proposes extension of provisions around electronic signing and sending of documents in courts and tribunals

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on Covid recovery that includes proposals to extend Covid-related rules that allow virtual court or tribunal hearings beyond March 2022.

Focusing on reviewing legislative measures that are supporting Scotland’s response to Covid, the consultation sets out the Scottish Government's proposals for maintaining key changes made by the First and Second Scottish Coronavirus Acts (the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020) and the UK Coronavirus Act 2020, highlighting that -

‘These are the measures that are clearly showing a benefit … We want to capture the good practice that has helped people during the pandemic, for example where moving to improved digital services, or the use of technology, has increased access to services and made them simpler and easier for service users. In other cases, the Scottish Government considers that there is a case for longer extension of some temporary justice system measures than has been provided for in the Extension and Expiry Act, to deal with backlogs that have unavoidably built up during the pandemic.’

In relation to measures that respond to the impact of Covid in the justice system, the consultation proposes extending rules introduced by Part 1 of schedule 4 of the First Scottish Coronavirus Act - that allow people to attend a court or tribunal by electronic means - beyond their current March 2022 end date so that -

‘... by default anyone who would normally have to physically attend a court or tribunal (other than a trial) can attend by electronic means, but the court or tribunal has the power to require a person to physically attend in a particular case.’

In addition, the Scottish Government seeks views on extending provisions around electronic signing and sending of documents in courts and tribunals (also in Part 1 of schedule 4 to the First Scottish Coronavirus Act) beyond March 2022.

Both policy extensions are initially proposed to run until September 2022 via secondary legislation, subject to the agreement of the Scottish Parliament. However, the Scottish Government also says it is also looking at the evidence for extending provisions beyond September 2022.

The consultation runs until 9 November 2021.

For more information, see Chapter 4 of the Scottish Government’s Covid Recovery consultation.