Downturn blamed for fall in civil cases

A Scottish Government report suggests the economic downturn may be putting people off beginning potentially costly legal actions.

The report, Civil Judicial Statistics Scotland, 2010-11, said this was despite a quarter of adults surveyed encountering at least one civil law problem in the past three years.

“The most common single civil law problem identified in 2009-10 was with neighbours, which 11 per cent had experienced,” the report’s authors wrote.

“Six per cent had encountered problems with faulty goods or services, and 5 per cent of adults had experienced money or debt problems.”

There were 97,484 civil cases initiated at the Court of Session in Edinburgh and at sheriff courts across Scotland in 2010-11. That was 17 per cent lower than the previous year, and 26 per cent down on 2008-9.

“The reasons for the continuing decrease in overall civil business are unclear, but may be partly due to the current financial climate inhibiting litigation,” the report said.