£500k cost of cinemas for Covid juries

COURTS in Tayside and Fife have forked out more than £500,000 hiring out cinemas to host jury trials during the pandemic.

S c o t l a n d ’s justice system has been using cinemas for jurors since trials resumed early last year. They were f i r st trialled as venues i n summer 2020, allowing jury members to watch courtroom proceedings on the big screen while spaced out to reduce the risk of Covid infection.

Early in the pandemic the Scottish Government shelved controversial emergency plans to hold trials without a jury.

Since jury trials resumed, Dundee and Perth courts have forked out a combined £238,304 to host jurors at Dundee’s Odeon cinema.

Dunfermline’s Odeon cinema has been used for trials in Fife and Falkirk since last February, with Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court incurring £338,556 i n overall costs.

In both cases, most of the cash on cinema hire was spent between April 2021 and 2022, due to trials being suspended during the first lockdown.

Elsewhere in Scotland, more than £600,000 was spent by the courts for Aberdeen trials.

Remote j ury centres remain in use – though the majority of Covid restrictions have been scrapped – but will be phased out by September.

However, a number of them will still be used in smaller courts not designed for jury cases.

The government announced £5.5 million funding i n 2020 when they first decided to hold remote trials.

Other jury costs typically incurred during a trial i nclude travel expenses as well as food and drinks.

Scotland’s courts face a major backlog for years to come due to trials being suspended at the start of the Covid lockdown.

A committee of MSPs warned government ministers that extended time limits for court cases should not become the new normal in the wake of the pandemic.

It was claimed last year that the backlog may not potentially be cleared until 2026.