Sheriff courts to gain more powers under Lord Gill review

Published on Wednesday 30 September 2009 14:34

A MAJOR expansion of the role of the sheriff court was proposed today as part of the biggest review of the civil justice system in modern times.

Scotland's second most senior judge, the Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill, said there should be a "major transfer of jurisdiction" from the country's top civil court – the Court of Session – to the sheriff court.

Under the plan, cases worth up to 150,000 would have to be dealt with at sheriff court level, freeing up the Court of Session to deal solely with the biggest cases.

Lord Gill also proposed that all minor civil litigation should be transferred to a "third judicial level" within the sheriff court, to be administered by a new class of judicial officers known as district judges.

And he further suggested a specialist personal injury court, based at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, and having jurisdiction throughout Scotland, should be set up.

Lord Gill was appointed in early 2007 by the then Scottish Executive to conduct the review.

Today, he announced his proposals alongside a raft of other suggested measures aimed at tackling "fundamental flaws" in the country's civil justice system and addressing the "scandalous" delays which can arise.

Introducing his findings, he said the study showed that civil justice as it stands in Scotland is "failing".

He said: "It is failing to deliver justice to the citizen expeditiously, economically or efficiently.

"Our structures and procedures are wholly unsuited to modern conditions.

"They inflict needless costs on the public purse, on the Scottish Legal Aid Board and on individual litigants at every level.

"The systems delays are notorious and in some cases scandalous."

Earlier this year, Lord Gill said the review presented a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" for change.

His recommendations were sent to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill this morning.

Speaking in Edinburgh today, the senior judge said procedural inefficiencies in the system currently operate "against the interests of justice".

He said he and the review team sought to make recommendations that would produce prompt and efficient decision-making in the courts, resulting in outcomes that are "fair and just and inspire public confidence in the law, rather than distrust and cynicism".

Unveiling his proposals for the Court of Session and the sheriff court, he said Scotland was perhaps unique in having no proper courts structure.

He said a fundamental weakness was that the civil jurisdictions of the Court of Session and the sheriff court largely overlap, and that sheriffs' case loads are often taken up with minor claims.

He said the review panel considered that the Court of Session should only be available for first-instance civil litigation where the importance of the case means it should be heard by the highest civil court in the land.

Some of the proposals announced today will also affect Scotland's criminal courts.

Lord Gill said the new district judges, sitting in sheriff courts, should also be able to deal with summary criminal business.

He said: "The effect of these proposals will be, in our view, that the Court of Session can re-establish itself as a specialist court dealing with cases that deserve to be in it, dealing with them with a high level of judicial expertise, and dealing with them efficiently, promptly and economically.

"By being relieved of the burden of minor work, both civil and criminal, the sheriffs will deal only with civil litigations that are appropriate to their knowledge and expertise."