Welcome for ditching of plans for jury-less trials

Controversial plans making it easier to change gender have been ditched as the Scottish Government focuses on tackling Covid-19.

Ministers halted work on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and delayed new benefits as they also performed a dramatic U-turn on plans for trials without juries during the pandemic.

The volte-face came hours after lawyers and opposition politicians expressed fury at plans that would have seen judges and sheriffs deliver verdicts in serious criminal cases.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said it was not a time to be “bullish, nor a time for egos or petty partisanship” as he conceded the plan did not have sufficient support.

Mr Yousaf removed a provision allowing parliament to enable juryless trials as MSPs considered a raft of emergency powers.

After the Easter recess MSPs will again look at how to meet the challenges for the criminal justice system.

The reversal was welcomed by Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr, who said: “Ditching hundreds of years of convention in Scottish courts, when no other democracy was considering this, was clearly a step significantly too far.”

With some MSPs selfisolating, a slimmed-down Holyrood reconvened for the day to debate and vote through the emergency powers.

The powers include the ability to release prisoners early if jails are made unsafe by the coronavirus as well as new powers to protect tenants against eviction for six months.

Housing minister Kevin Stewart said landlords who carry out illegal evictions could end up facing a £10,000 fine and imprisonment.

“Ditching years of convention... was a step too far”