Aberdeen lawyers have welcomed the Scottish Government's decision to axe a proposed pilot of running rape trials without a jury.
The planned pilot would have seen a single judge decide on the fate of persons accused of rape instead of a jury of their peers.
Speaking at Holyrood, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said there was "not enough cross-party support" to go ahead with the plan , in what the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association called a "humiliating U-turn".
Reacting to the move, former sheriff and now defence solicitor with Grant Smith Law Practice Mike Monro said he was pleased the pilot had been dropped.
He said: "The whole thing was totally misguided in the first place.
"You can't pick and choose in criminal proceedings ones where there will be a jury and ones where there won't be.
"It is a basic legal right for an accused person in serious matters to be tried by their peers.
"That's been an essential piece of Scottish law for centuries."
Mr Monro branded the idea of leaving such serious rulings up to a single judge "incredible".
He continued: "Why just pick rape cases? What happens with other sexual offences that find their way to the High Court? For example, you get very serious child abuse offences."
Andrew Ormiston, of Andrew Ormiston & Co said the majority of lawyers had been against the plans.
He said: "It's a welcome decision from the Scottish Government.
"It was something that never received a great deal of support from the criminal defence bar and I think wisdom has prevailed."
Gregor Kelly, a partner at Lefevre Litigation, said he is a "firm believer" in jury trials.
He said: "Personally, I'm glad the juryless rape trial project will not proceed.
"I am a firm believer that the best justice flows from trial by a jury of 15 men and women bringing their personal life experience to bear.
"To serve victims of sexual crime in a more effective way greater resources should be available to police and forensic services to improve the quality of evidence presented in our courts."