THE Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) is opening a new court annexe in Kirkcaldy.
The building, which will initially hear custody cases and in future sheriff and jury cases, has been tipped to improve the court facilities experience for all users in the town. The £3.7 million project includes two new criminal courtrooms and a new custody suite, co-located within the existing Kirkcaldy police station complex at St Brycedale Avenue.
The aim is to improve efficiency and flexibility in managing day to day court business, as well as increasing the number of courtrooms and providing improved accommodation for court users, including victims, witnesses and jurors.
The immediate focus will be improved digital capability as the SCTS and courts prioritise critical business during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Kirkcaldy’s sheriff clerk Neil Rawlings said, “I am delighted these building works are now complete. We will use them effectively during this challenging time and we look forward to these much-improved facilities being available to court users in the future.”
Eric McQueen, SCTS chief executive added, “There are so many opportunities which come with this new facility. We look forward to when we can welcome our court users into the new environment and we welcome the extra space and teleconferencing capability it gives us at this time.”