The Scottish Government has announced that it is rolling out a world-leading initiative that will support the sharing of digital evidence into court rooms.
Supported by £33 million of investment, the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability will allow police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff and judges to access a secure system for digital evidence. The system will collect, store, process and manage the evidence, with the aim of reducing the number of victims and witnesses that are forced to attend court, whilst cutting down on the time that it takes for a case to conclude.
The programme went through a pilot stage in Dundee, with approximately 19,500 pieces of evidence being handled. As the pilot concluded, it was established that almost 550 hours of police officers’ time had been freed up thanks to the capability.
Angela Constance, Justice Secretary, said:
“This is a world first for Scotland – a truly transformational programme where digital evidence is managed securely from crime scene to court room, benefitting victims, police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, court staff and judges.
“During the successful pilot in Dundee, DESC allowed justice system partners to collect, manage and share digital evidence in a streamlined and efficient way, helping to get cases resolved more quickly. It has also freed up a significant amount of time for police officers, creating additional capacity for frontline policing.”
Evidence that is handled by the system includes CCTV footage, photographs, as well as data and material from computers and mobile devices. As the roll-out process goes on, that will be expanded to cover documents and recording of police interviews. With the amount of evidence that can be held in the system, it ensures that members of the public can submit evidence digitally when sent a link by a police officer.
Another tangible benefit is the cutting of CO2 emissions and transport costs, thanks to the removal of the need for physical evidence to be collected and stored in person.
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