Sheriff Appeal Court turns 10 — How Scotland's legal landscape has changed

It is now more than a decade since the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 received royal assent. Its introduction proved controversial for many practitioners in civil and criminal litigation – nonetheless, the changes made are now embedded.

The 2014 Act was itself the outcome of the Scottish Civil Courts Review. One of the key proposals in the 2014 Act was for the establishment of the Sheriff Appeal Court (SAC). The ethos behind the review was that civil litigation should be conducted at a level in the court structure that was appropriate to the degree of importance of the case and that the procedures in those courts would ensure that each litigation was conducted with a degree of expedition that was appropriate to its importance.¹

Impact of reforms on criminal appeals

In its analysis, published in 2009, the Scottish Civil Courts Review noted that 50% of all appeals to the High Court of Justiciary were summary appeals against sentence and 11% were summary appeals against conviction.² In 2007-08 the target turnaround time for summary conviction appeals, from the date leave was allowed to final disposal, was six weeks; the actual turnaround figure was 38 weeks. Indeed, it was likely longer than this, as the statistics from the period failed to take account of the vacation period in the High Court of Justiciary.³

A similar picture was evident in summary sentence appeals in 2007-08. The target was for a nine-week turnaround between leave being granted and disposal; the actual figure was in fact 18 weeks.⁴

By establishing the Sheriff Appeal Court, it was hoped that summary criminal appeals would be dealt with more expeditiously and that sentencing consistency in summary criminal courts throughout Scotland would be enhanced.⁵

Has the Sheriff Appeal Court achieved the aims of the Scottish Civil Courts Review? In short, yes. In 2024-25, summary conviction appeals were, on average, disposed of within six weeks from leave being granted, as against its present target set of 18 weeks. Likewise, summary sentence appeals, on average, are taking five weeks for disposal, against its target of 11 weeks.⁶ Comparing the figures recorded in 2007-08 to 2024-25, there has been an 84% reduction in waiting time for the resolution of summary conviction appeals and a 73% reduction in waiting time for summary sentence appeals.

By taking on jurisdiction for summary appeals, the Sheriff Appeal Court has also had a direct effect on the turnaround time for solemn criminal appeals in the High Court. In 2007-08, the Scottish Civil Courts Review noted that the average waiting period for solemn conviction appeals was 37 weeks.⁷ For solemn sentence appeals the turnaround time was 19 weeks.

Progress was made by the High Court in reducing the turnaround times even prior to the establishment of the Sheriff Appeal Court. By 2014-15, the High Court had reduced the average waiting period for disposal for solemn conviction appeals to 28 weeks and for sentence appeals to six weeks.⁸ Following the establishment of the Sheriff Appeal Court, those figures were reduced further. In 2016-17, solemn conviction appeals in the High Court took, on average, 20 weeks and sentence appeals remained stable at six weeks. In 2024-25, the average waiting time for solemn conviction appeals, from the date leave was granted to final disposal, was 21 weeks.⁹ Sentence appeals were disposed of, on average, within six weeks.¹⁰ Thus, there has been a reduction of 44% in the waiting time for solemn conviction appeals and 66% for solemn sentence appeals since 2007-08.

Impact of reforms on civil appeals

In its research, the Scottish Civil Courts Review ascertained that close to one-third of all civil appeals to the Inner House came directly from the sheriff courts. Of those, two-thirds were direct appeals from a decision of the sheriff.¹¹ In 2007-08 the target figure for an appeal decision to be issued was within 18 weeks of the appeal being allowed by the Inner House; the actual figure was, in fact, 39 weeks.¹² For civil appeals to the SAC, in 2024-25 the average time from registration to disposal of appeals was 17 weeks.¹³ In general then, civil appeals from the sheriff courts have seen a reduction in waiting time for disposal of 56% between 2007-08 and 2024-25.

In 2007-08, the target waiting period for an appeal hearing in the Inner House was 18 weeks; however, the actual figure was 39 weeks.¹⁴ By 2024-25, the average time from the marking of a reclaiming motion from the Outer House, or the lodging of an appeal, to disposal in the Inner House was, on average, 24 weeks.¹⁵ The figures show a reduction in turnaround time of around 38%.

Conclusion

The creation of the Sheriff Appeal Court has helped to reduce the turnaround times for the resolution of civil and criminal appeals, thus achieving one of the original aims of the Scottish Civil Courts Review.

Written by David Gray, Clerk to the Sheriff Appeal Court.

References

1 Speech by Lord Gill, 14 July 2016: ‘The Scottish Legal System – What Next?’.

2 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.63 at [80].

3 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.277, Table 1.

4 Ibid.

5 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.63 at [80].

6 SAC Performance Framework 2024-25 Spreadsheet.

7 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.277, Table 1.

8 Performance Framework 2017-18 Spreadsheet.

9 Performance Framework 2024-25 Spreadsheet (figures accurate to October 2024).

10 Ibid/

11 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.21 at [33].

12 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.61, Table 4.1.

13 SAC Performance Framework 2024-25 Spreadsheet.

14 Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, p.61, Table 4.1.

15 CoS Performance Framework 2024-25 (to October 2024) Spreadsheet.