Tayside commercial court extended across sheriffdom

The Tayside Commercial Court is to expand from its three existing bases to cover the whole Tayside, Central & Fife Sheriffdom.

Four further commercial court sheriffs have been appointed across the region in recognition of the success of the court, established three years ago to deal with business such as contractual disputes, exports and imports, insurance, banking, leases and the provision of services. 

Those nominated are Sheriff Gillian Wade QC (Perth), Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown (Dundee), Sheriff Alastair Thornton (Kirkcaldy), and Sheriff Derek Hamilton (Falkirk). They join the existing commercial sheriffs, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis (Perth), Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC (Dundee), and Sheriff Gregor Murray (Forfar).

For administrative purposes, all new commercial actions may be commenced in Perth Sheriff Court, where all documents are to be lodged and processed. Sheriff Principal Marysia Lewis has directed that corporate insolvency applications are suitable for the commercial court.

If an action is defended, the process will be passed to one of the commercial sheriffs and the cause will remain with the same sheriff until concluded.

Sheriff Principal Lewis commented: "The establishment of the commercial court in Tayside in 2017 has helped improve the effective throughput of civil business in Dundee, Forfar, and Perth. It has achieved the objective of maintaining a high standard of judicial decision-making efficiently delivered after taking into account the resources available to achieve it.

"Given the success of the Tayside court and following representations made to me, I have taken the decision to expand the commercial court to the rest of the sheriffdom. There are several sheriffs across Tayside, Central & Fife who have a background in commercial litigation, and with their experience and expertise in commercial procedures we are well placed to expand."

The sheriff principal has made a new practice note for commercial causes, effective from 29 April 2020, which can be accessed here.