Court reform timetable to be unveiled tomorrow

The Lord President is to announce the timetable for Scotland's civil court reforms tomorrow, 28 January, the Scottish Court Service has confirmed.

Implementation of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act, which enacts reforms originally recommended by Lord Gill himself following his review of the civil courts, will be detailed at a conference, "Digital Justice: Modern, User Focused Civil and Administrative Justice", to be held at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel.

It takes place in the same week as the final round of sheriff court closures by which Scottish Court Service hopes to reduce the costs of delivering justice – though many lawyers believe that courts in which more business is now being concentrated are struggling to cope. Dingwall, Duns, Haddington and Peebles sheriff courts are all closing their doors for the last time, joining Dornoch, Rothesay, Kirkcudbright, Stonehaven, Arbroath Cupar, which have already closed, along with a number of district courts.

The reforms to be implemented include an increase to £100,000 in the privative limit of the sheriff court, the creation of the new judicial offices of summary sheriff and appeal sheriff, along with the Sheriff Appeal Court, and the establishment of a specialist personal injury court. As summary sheriffs are introduced, the sheriff courts will move progressively, over a five to 10 year period, to specialist jury centres for the more serious criminal business.

Referring to the closures, SCS chief executive Eric McQueen commented: “While there were concerns expressed about potential difficulties including witness attendance, delays and the capacity of the courts to handle business, our courts are operating effectively and efficiently. In almost 90% of our sheriff courts, criminal trials are being set at, or close to, the 16 week target."

He added: “We are now able to target investment to create a modern court structure throughout Scotland, with digital innovation at its heart. Over the last year we have made significant improvement to our courts in Aberdeen, Dundee, Forfar and Tain and are currently examining the feasibility of further justice centres.

“We are installing an ICT infrastructure that will provide both the speed and resilience that we require for evidence presentation, video links, case management systems and wi-fi access across our courts, and have started development of the first of our new generation case management systems which enable civil business to be conducted digitally.”

Mr McQueen said that whereas in April 2014 the percentage of sheriff courts setting criminal trials at, or close to, 16 weeks was 50%, at the end of December 2014, the figure was almost 90%.