High Court cases Scotland

[General Madness]

Morning all,

There has been a case in the High Court which i'd like to find out more about.

All this week the Court Roll has shown Dedicated Floating Trial, There have been no further updates and it does not show that it will be continuing into next week.

How can I find out if any rulings have been made?

How do the courts stop the press getting any information? It is quite a sensitive trial.

Thanks folks

[anonymous-user]

The Courts almost never "stop the press getting any information". Take off your tin foil hat! In some cases, for reasons of national security, commercial confidentiality, or to protect, for example, the identity of a child, a court may order that all or part of a case be heard subject to reporting restrictions, or behind closed doors, but the general principle is open justice.

In England, an email to the Court often produces an answer explaining very briefly what the outcome of a case heard in public was. If the court has made a restricted reporting order, you may not find out the outcome until long after the case concludes.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 11th July 09:03

[General Madness]

Good morning Breadvan,

Thank you, Rare to see you post.

I will try and contact the Court. I am led to believe that the case revolves around a child, possibly two.

I have been checking the online info and local papers on a daily basis.

Tell me, What exactly does Dedicated Floating Trial mean and if the latest trial status show this does it suggest the trial has not begun?

Thanks

[anonymous-user]

Scottish courts use some different legal terminology to that used in England, but at an educated guess the case was not allocated a fixed start time, but was "floating" in a waiting list until a Judge and/or jury became available to hear it. If children are involved, there is very likely to be an order restricting reporting of some or all of the case.

[General Madness]

Wonderful, Thanks for your help.

Cheers again

[marshalla]

Breadvan72 said:

Scottish courts use some different legal terminology to that used in England, but at an educated guess the case was not allocated a fixed start time, but was "floating" in a waiting list until a Judge and/or jury became available to hear it. If children are involved, there is very likely to be an order restricting reporting of some or all of the case.

Dedicated = allocated to a particular court
Floating = start time not fixed/determined (but the amount of float is limited) to allow for trials in the same court to over run.

So, they know where it will be but not when.

[Mojooo]

I once emailed the English court aksing for info on a case - I think it was a Crown Court case - I got a very arsey email asking me what teh case was to do with me and to send in a letter explaining what the case was to do with me and what info I wanted.

I didn't exactly get the feeling of 'open justice'.

[anonymous-user]

You should have complained, as the court employee who sent that email was in the wrong. Remember that the staff aren't judges or lawyers, do not know the law, and may be jobsworthy, although they are usually less so nowadays than they used to be. I emailed a crown court a month or so ago to ask about the outcome of a case, and received a helpful and informative answer the next day.