A decision to open temporary court rooms in cinemas during the coronavirus pandemic has cost taxpayers almost £30 million, it can be revealed.
The Odeon chain has so far raked in £26,166,092 over the last two years while Vue was paid £1,882,356 by the Scottish Courts service, figures uncovered by the Record show.
Jurors were unable to attend regular court buildings due to strict social distancing measures so were forced to watch proceedings via video link in theatres.
While covid restrictions have since been relaxed some cinemas are still being used for jurors as justice centres are not expected to fully reopen until September.
READ MORE: Labour calls for 'legal duty of cooperation' between the UK and Scottish governments
It comes as the courts service deals with a huge backlog in trials caused by the pandemic.
The Lord Advocate, Scotland's top legal officer, warned MSPs in November last year the number of unresolved cases was an "enormous problem" that would take "multiple years" to clear.
A spending review announced by the Scottish Government in May signalled the justice budget will be frozen for the next four years - meaning a cut in real terms as inflation soars.
Law society president Murray Etherington previously warned that courts were already "struggling" to clear the backlog in trials and cuts could make the situation worse.
Labour described the costs of renting cinemas for trials as "eye watering".
Pauline McNeill, the party's justice spokeswoman, said: "There’s pandemic induced expenditure and then there’s endemic failures in planning - this is the latter.
"These exorbitant sums will water the eyes of many people suffering during this cost of living crisis, who are seeing their taxes handed over to multi million dollar companies in the USA.
"The Minister needs to stand up and provide a long term plan to deal with the courts backlog.
"The SNP can’t keep throwing money at a problem while they fail to provide answers."
Cinemas in Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, Dunfermline, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness were all used for remote jury trials.
Inverness and Aberdeen are expected to be the first to be decommissioned by the courts service this week with the rest expected to be used until after the summer.
A spokesman for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said: "Remote jury centres were essential to the running of the courts throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Without this innovation, solemn trials would not have been possible during the health crisis and backlogs would far exceed where they are now.
"The use of cinemas ensured that jurors could be physically distanced while hearing evidence and taking part in deliberations, and allowed us to run a greater number of trials than would have been possible had we only used the existing court estate.
"However, we are now at a point where these centres can begin to be decommissioned.
"This will be phased over the summer months, with jurors returning to court buildings between July and September 2022."
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