Lord President opens legal year

 

DIGITAL justice is not an alternative to the court system, but its future, according to the Lord President, Lord Carloway.

In a speech to open the 2019-20 legal year, Lord Carloway highlighted a recent milestone in which the first civil case in the UK to be processed, start to finish, by digital means was held in Aberdeen.

“The experience of digital justice in simple procedure is but an early step on the journey to the adoption of online processing across the whole system of courts and tribunals,” Lord Carloway told an audience in the First Division courtroom of Parliament House.

“This has not been easy. There is a long way to go and we need to all find a way of turning these small steps into bigger strides in the coming years. This is not the time for defence of tradition. Online cannot be viewed as an option or alternative to the court system; it is the future of the court system.”

Lord Carloway thanked the many counsel and solicitors who had participated so willingly in the Scottish Civil Justice Council, the Criminal Courts Rules Council and users groups, “the work of which shows the wider profession’s commitment to a thriving, user-friendly justice system.”

He also welcomed nine new Silks – advocates Neil Mackenzie, Astrid Smart, Matt Jackson, Fred Mackintosh, Michael Meehan, Claire Mitchell, Isla Davie and Euan Duthie, and solicitor-advocate Liam Ewing.

The full speech is here