Emergency plans to hold trials without juries in Scotland have been shelved after a backlash.
The Scottish Government had planned to rush through the major change today to keep courts running through the coronavirus crisis.
But opposition parties and some legal experts were furious.
Announcing the change of plan this morning, SNP Government minister Michael Russell admitted there “are still areas which need further work”.
He said the emergency measure will be removed from legislation but brought back for discussion later this month.
Russell called for “an intensive and wide-ranging discussion” by all interested parties, including victims, about the right way that justice continues to be done in Scotland.
“We will come back to this chamber with a stand-alone Bill on this issue along with the regulations to implement it on April 21,” he said.
“The courts must be allowed to function. By the end of this month we must have the means to ensure that can happen but we want those means to command the widest support possible.”
Russell also suggested cinemas and theatres could be used as temporary court rooms to help jurors and staff observe social distancing rules. The idea was put forward by Tory and Lib Dem MSPs.
Russell said: “The idea of taking over the cinemas of Scotland in order to hold trials in them, although slightly Kafkaesque, is probably something that we can consider very seriously."
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, who objected to the plans, said: "The Scottish Government's sharp U-turn on its plans to end jury trials is important.
“People in Scotland have had jury trials for 800 years, through wars, disease and pestilence.
“When SNP ministers look at this again they need to remember that a shiver ran down people’s spines at the idea they wanted to go further than any government in the world to end our system of justice.
"A pillar of our justice system must not be pushed to one side by the unilateral action of a minority government."
The jury proposal is one of a major package of rapid changes in Scotland, including release of some prisoners if jails are overwhelmed by Covid-19.
MSPs were also considering wider protection for people in rented homes who face eviction during the pandemic.
