Really interesting set up in Scotland. A wall of monitors in the court room display the 15 jurors. Within the court room are the advocates, judge, defendant and witnesses. So the evidence takes place as it would in a normal trial. /1 https://twitter.com/TheCriminalBar/status/1285494390451036160

The jury sit socially distanced in an adjacent court room. They each have their own monitor. The monitor is divided into 4- they see an overview of the court room and defendant/a close up of the judge when he is talking, the witness, the advocate and a 1/4 for document exhibits/2

The sound is broadcast into jury courtroom over the court speakers. It’s quite clear, and quite a comfortable experience. The jury use that court room for lunch, waiting and deliberations. Which allows them to maintain social-distance and minimise traffic in the building /3

In time, it would be possible for the live images to made available to the public/press via a link which they would register for. That would save the use of a third court room as currently being used in many courts in E&W. /4

Another benefit is that with the jury out of the trial court room, quite a small court room can be utilised. The one at Edinburgh was not very large at all. A larger room may well allow for multiple Ds to be present. /5

Jurors were shown physical exhibits on a document viewer (think an upgraded digital projector you saw at school). It would, in theory be possible to intergrate clickshare to show exhibits in that way to avoid the need to hand out physical documents. /6

In the trial court room the Defendant could clearly see all the jurors. The jurors’ view of the Defendant was also clear. The jurors were attended to be a court clerk at all times. /7

The investment in the technology is relatively modest, with a lot of the technology already in place. It was explained the main spend was on laying the wiring. In my view the spend is worth it to increase the capacity for trials in court buildings. /8

It may be possible to have the jury in an offsite venue altogether. This would in theory allow ALL courtrooms in a court building to be used for the purpose of trials. While managing the social-distancing and providing the necessary assurance to jurors. 9/9