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This report presents findings from research exploring the impacts of remote hearings and other measures introduced or expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic on Scotland’s civil justice system.

This report presents findings from research exploring the impacts of remote hearings and other measures introduced or expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic on Scotland’s civil justice system. The research was commissioned to improve and expand the existing evidence base, so that any decision on whether remote hearings and other ‘pandemic measures’ should continue to be used, adapted or discarded is informed by relevant, current and high quality research. It aimed to address three key research questions:

1. In what way have the courts/tribunals under study adapted their processes and procedures as a result of the pandemic?
2. What has been the impact of the pandemic measures adopted by the courts/tribunals, specifically remote hearings, on service users, staff and the judiciary?
3. Do changes need to be made to the pandemic measures, specifically remote hearings, to ensure access to justice for service users? If so, what changes would be suggested? It would not have been feasible to cover the entirety of Scottish civil justice within a single study. Given this, four specific case types were selected to ensure the research included variety in terms of the nature and sensitivity of case types, the characteristics of the parties involved, and different court/tribunal settings (including those that were and were not already using remote methods prior to the pandemic). The four case types included were: • Commercial (heard within either the Sheriff Courts or Court of Session) • Family law (heard within either the Sheriff Courts or Court of Session) • Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland (MHTS) cases, and • Health and Education Chamber (HEC) Additional Support Needs cases. The report draws on multiple data sources, including: a rapid review of existing evidence; an online survey of professionals involved in the civil justice system; qualitative interviews with 30 parties and, qualitative interviews with 53 professionals.

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