Page 10 - Staff FocusSeptember 2020

‘It was exciting to be taking part in the first virtual trials’

What was it like to clerk the first virtual trials and Q Did you have to show productions on screen to
tribunal hearings? We asked two of those who were the witness?
involved. Jenna Pickard tells of her first virtual summary A Yes by the shared screen function which is very
trial at Aberdeen and overleaf, Megan Wilkinson gives straightforward to use.
a view from the Health and Education Chamber.
Q What was different and what was the same from a
normal trial?
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was involved in the pilot of A Due to the current health pandemic we were required
summary virtual trials, along with Inverness Sheriff Court, to maintain social distancing therefore we were in
during June 2020 which garnered much attention around different rooms across different buildings, the Sheriff was
the UK and overseas. in his chambers, Procurator Fiscal Depute and Defence
Solicitor were in their separate offices. I clerked the trial
Q What was your experience of clerking a virtual using a laptop with a dual screen from a meeting room.
summary trial? The Court Officers were with the accused and witnesses,
A In the run-up to proceedings I was feeling a little helping to operate the conferencing equipment and there
apprehensive clerking a summary trial digitally, however was a police presence too. Court etiquette was still
the technical training team and Nick Reilly in the Digital Ground-breaking: Jenna enjoyed taking part in the first virtual trials followed and gowns and wigs were worn. In summary
Services Unit were very supportive and assisted with all trials, it is common for clerks to leave the court room and
my questions and worries. Once I was used to how the that there was someone there who could assist with any base themselves in their office, however when
WebEx system worked, I was looking forward to the trials issues that may arise. participating in the virtual trial, I was required to follow
commencing. I was also well supported by the Sheriff, all proceedings as I needed to ensure equipment was
local management and the justice partners who were Q Did you encounter any issues? working and be available to show productions.
involved. Overall it was exciting to take part in one of the A In the lead-up to the day of the pilot, myself along with
first virtual trials in Scotland and I look forward to the colleagues were tasked with finding appropriate Q Who could watch the trial?
future of virtual courts. accommodation for each participant, as the accused and A Journalists were invited to watch the trial and were
civilian witnesses were attending the court building. It given a link to do so. They logged on before the trial
Q What materials were you provided with? took some time and some input from IT to identify the started and were able to report on the case like a normal
A I was provided with training notes produced by the most suitable space. There were some issues with poor IT trial. Members of the public were allowed to phone in and
Education and Learning Unit project team. I also attended connections for justice partners which resulted in glitches listen to the trial only. During the pilot there were more
virtual training sessions and meetings with various in the video stream but thankfully everyone participating than 30 people watching!
participants to discuss and agree the details of the pilot. was very patient and understanding.
During the course of the trial, I was able to communicate I felt the trials went really well, despite some technical Thanks to Jenna and Isla Morgan for putting together
with DSU and other support via Jabber Chat. I found that issues. However, these were handled really well by staff in this article. Read about Megan’s experience
to be extremely helpful and I was put at ease knowing Aberdeen and the DSU team. on the next page and the training that was carried out