Sheriff Kenneth McGowan has been appointed as the new Administrative Sheriff for the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court, located at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
The PI Sheriffs and staff have been carrying out a review of court procedures and practices, with a view to improving efficiency. As part of that review, Sheriff McGowan has announced that new arrangements for the programming of opposed motions in the PI court will take effect from 2 May 2017.
Presently, opposed motions are primarily dealt with in the Procedural Court, which is held on a Monday unless there is a court holiday. In addition, hearings for opposed motions are offered to agents on an ad hoc basis on days where no PI proofs are going ahead.
From Tuesday 2 May 2017, short opposed motions lodged by 12:30pm on a court day will be heard on the third court day following. Special arrangements may still be required in those weeks where there are court holidays.
Long opposed motions will be allocated a calling date by administrative staff, taking account of the importance and urgency of the motion and the availability of parties and a suitable court slot.
While long motions will still be allocated to call in the Procedural Court where there is capacity, they will also be allocated to call before the PI Proofs’ Sheriff on other days of the week.
It is hoped that the foregoing changes will allow opposed motions to be dealt with more quickly.
Further details on the new arrangements can be found here.
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Notes to editors
Sheriff McGowan is a graduate of Edinburgh University. As a solicitor he specialised in civil court work for 20 years, practising in the Court of Session and the Sheriff Court. He became a solicitor advocate in 1998. Prior to be appointed as full time sheriff in 2011, he served as an employment judge and as a part time sheriff. Sheriff McGowan was among the sheriffs designated by Sheriff Principal Mhairi Stephen QC, the Sheriff Principal of Lothian and Borders, as specialists in actions of damages for personal injury.
The creation of the all-Scotland jurisdiction PI court was among a raft of significant reforms which came into effect in September 2015, following the Scottish Civil Courts Review led by Lord Gill.
The court has jurisdiction in PI cases exceeding £5,000, workplace-related PI actions exceeding £1,000, and any workplace-related PI case under £1,000 remitted to the all-Scotland court by a sheriff. Concurrently with the establishment of the court the exclusive competence of the Sheriff Court increased to £100,000.
PI actions can still be lodged in local courts, but new rules were made to allow civil jury trials and to allow e-motions in the Sheriff Personal Injury Court at Edinburgh.
For further information contact:
Baktosch Gillan
Judicial Media and Communications Officer
Judicial Office for Scotland
Tel: 0131 240 6707 Email:
bgillan@scotcourts.gov.uk