Public access to virtual hearings

Please contact the relevant court directly at least one working day in advance to access a virtual hearing in the Supreme Courts, Sheriff Courts, Sheriff Appeal Court or All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court by sending an email with details of the:

• case reference number
• case name
• date of the hearing.

This information can be found on the Court Rolls.

Find out which court by the case reference.

Please be aware of the restrictions on virtual hearings as detailed below.

Restrictions on virtual hearings

Do not share access details for virtual hearings. Access is provided to you, the individual, and in accessing a case via the details provided, you are agreeing to the conditions set out below.

Anyone failing to obey or respect the authority of the Court may be subject to Contempt of Court proceedings. In particular, those accessing a hearing:

• must not record or store the proceedings
• must not broadcast the proceedings

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service retain the copyright of live audio recordings of Court proceedings. Although you are welcome to access the proceedings, the re-use, capture, re-editing or redistribution of the material in any form is not permitted. You should be aware that any such use could attract liability for breach of copyright or defamation, in addition to the possibility of contempt of court proceedings.

Please be aware that some court cases can deal with distressing details.

Use of social media during a virtual hearing

Members of the public must not, during the course of a virtual hearing, comment on the proceedings using any social media platform in relation to: jury trials; cases involving sexual offences; or cases where the participants cannot legally be identified.

Any social media comment in relation to the proceedings of other types of court case during the course of a hearing:

• must be fair and accurate
• must not be in Contempt of Court
• must not be prejudicial to the court case

Each individual accessing the case should be personally aware of the legal restrictions of use and for this reason the meeting code should not be shared.

Media access to virtual hearings

If you are a member of the press seeking access to a virtual case, please email a request at least one working day before the case is due to call: onlinehearingaccess@scotcourts.gov.uk

Alternatively, audio hearings can be accessed by dialling using the instructions below.

You will need to provide proof that you are a bona fide journalist.

Please be aware of the restrictions on virtual hearings as detailed above.

How to dial into a virtual hearing

Having read the information carefully and agreeing to the conditions and restrictions, please follow the instructions below to join the hearing:

1. call
   • within the UK: 020 7660 8149*
   • outside the UK find the global call number for your country*.
2. enter the case access code
3. when prompted, press # to join
4. once connected the line will remain silent until the hearing begins
5. the sound will activate automatically.

*Please note this call may incur a cost and you should check with your phone provider.

As participant arrangements require to be put in place, the hearing may not start immediately. Your patience is appreciated.

If there are no case access codes listed, there are no scheduled virtual hearings.