Squaring the circle

He is not a man to mince his words, nor does his report shrink from bold proposals to address the problems currently facing Scotland's civil courts.

Lord Gill promised earlier this year that his Review of the Civil Courts would produce some radical ideas, and he has not disappointed. His proposals to keep, essentially, all but the highest value actions out of the Court of Session, to introduce a new tier of sheriffs ("district judges" in the report, hearing cases up to £5,000 in a simple, plain-English procedure), to send appeals from the sheriff court to a new national court at sheriff principal level (further appeal only with leave), and to set up a new all-Scotland personal injury court in Edinburgh Sheriff Court, would fundamentally change the nature of the courts at all levels.

Whether or not they ultimately find favour, the recommendations are an imaginative attempt to de-clutter the Court of Session (and High Court, as summary criminal appeals would also go to the new court) of much of the less important business that currently takes up its time, without necessarily dispersing round the country the expertise that has built up through concentration of the work in Edinburgh. As a result they may pose less of a threat to the bar, although the relative attractions of instructing counsel or solicitors in the new courts remain to be seen.

It may also be somewhat wishful thinking to target the use of part-time sheriffs and judges quite as drastically as Lord Gill proposes; certainly it would require a major culture shift in court administration thinking. But reservations over practising lawyers arguing cases in court one week and sitting in judgment the next are not new, and his ideas deserve full debate.

It will be interesting to see proper costings – will it be more or less expensive to appoint salaried district judges as opposed to part time sheriffs on a daily rate? What about the cost of the Sheriff Appeal Court as opposed to the probable saving of a number of Court of Session judicial salaries? The plans would have to compete for funding with everything else, but it cannot be said that they have been drawn up with no regard to spending constraints and they should be fully debated on their merits.

First impressions are that Lord Gill's reforms would be a considerable improvement on the present situation, and any critics will have to come up with alternatives.