The reform of the civil courts is a key commitment for the Scottish Government and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service has a lead role in helping to shape and implement those reforms. The following commentary briefly outlines the origins of those reforms and the current state of progress.
Origins of the Reforms
A judicially led review of the Civil Justice System was undertaken in 2007-2009 and the outcome was published in September 2009 as the "Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review". In summary that review recommended:
- establishment of a Civil Justice Council for Scotland
- creation of a new tier of judiciary (summary sheriffs)
- establishment of a national Sheriff Appeal Court
- establishment of a national Personal Injury Court
- changes to the process for Judicial Review
- a shift of business from the Court of Session to the Sheriff Courts
- a raft of changes to civil court rules to support modernisation of civil court procedures.
A synopsis of the review team's recommendations is available here and further background information is available in the following documents:
The government has broadly accepted the recommendations of the Scottish Civil Courts Review.
During 2013
The Government undertook a full public consultation process on the way in which it intended to progress the structural changes recommended by the review team. There were 115 responses received and the Government has considered that information as part of the preparation of the draft Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill.
During 2014
The "Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill" was formally introduced in Parliament on 6 February 2014 and Royal Assent was received on 10 November 2014. Information relative to the public consultation and the subsequent progress of the bill through Parliament is available as follows:
The Commencement Orders
Exact dates for commencement do vary depending on the changes being introduced and a series of orders has been put in place
The key changes delivered
For operational reasons the implementation of the changes that have been agreed by Parliament requires reasonable lead in times and the public can see the effect of the items covered in the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 in a series of phased changes to court services.
During 2015
- April 2015 - the SCS was renamed as the SCTS and took on the function of providing administrative support to the Tribunals
- September 2015 - the new Sheriff Appeal Court started to manage criminal appeals
- September 2015 - the new All-Scotland Personal Injury Court started operations
- September 2015 - the new Judicial Review procedure was commenced
During 2016
- January 2016 - the new Sheriff Appeal Court started to manage civil appeals
- April 2016 - the first tranche of new summary sheriffs took up post.
- November 2016 - the new Simple Procedure was introduced
During 2017
- May 2017 – The Scottish Civil Justice council issued its first report on the proposed New Civil Procedure Rules which is how the council intends to support the modernisation of civil court procedures.
Feedback: Any queries on the content of this webpage can be directed to: civilcourtsreform@scotcourtstribunals.gov.uk