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The latest civil justice statistics, published today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician, underline the need for court reform in Scotland, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said today.

They show that while the number of civil cases being heard at sheriff court level has been declining – down 10 per cent between 2011-12 and 2012-13, a 43 per cent drop since 2008-09, the number of civil cases being heard at the Court of Session has remained steady. Personal injury cases accounted for 79 per cent of cases raised in the General Department of Court of Session[u1] .

The Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill, which implements many of the recommendations of Lord Gill’s Scottish Civil Courts Review, aims to speed up Scotland’s courts by ensuring that cases are heard at the appropriate level – freeing up the Court of Session to deal with the most challenging civil disputes. To support this, the threshold under which civil cases must be raised in the sheriff court is to be increased from £5,000 to £150,000.

The Bill also includes proposals to create a new national personal injury sheriff court, where such cases can be heard by specialist sheriffs, instead of so many ending up in the Court of Session, resulting in higher costs and potential delays for all involved. It will also

introduce greater specialisation with plans for specialist sheriffs and specialist summary sheriffs in areas of law such as family, housing, personal injury and commercial law, with the expertise to deal with these issues as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill said:

“The latest civil law statistics underline why we need to reform Scotland’s courts and in particular ensure that the right cases are heard in the right courts, at the right time.

"As highlighted by Lord Gill, our civil justice courts have remained relatively unchanged for more than a generation and need to be made more effective and efficient.

“At present too many cases, particularly lower value personal injury cases, are being raised in the Court of Session – clogging up the system and resulting in higher costs and delays for the parties involved. Through our court reforms we will ensure such cases can be heard at a new, national specialist personal injury court, where they can be dealt with more swiftly at a lower cost. This will have little impact on the sheriff courts themselves – representing only a three per cent transfer of civil cases – but will have a considerable impact on the Court of Session, enabling it to focus on more complex cases.”

Today’s statistics show a 45 per cent fall in the number of debt cases raised in Scotland’s courts in the four years between 2008-09 and 2012-13 – down by almost half, as well as a 47 per cent decrease in repossession and eviction cases raised in the same period.

Commenting on the figures relating to debt and repossessions, Housing Minister Margaret Burgess said:

“The Scottish Government continues to take action where it can and has introduced measures to help those people in Scotland who are struggling under the burden of debt.

“The introduction of the Home Owners and Debtors Protection Act in 2010 has strengthened the protection for homeowners. The fall in repossession cases raised in the courts across Scotland is line with the aims of the legislation.

“The current levels of repossessions cases continue to be a sign of households in economic difficulty. That is why we also introduced the Home Owner Support Fund, a mortgage rescue scheme established in 2009, aimed at helping owners who are experiencing difficulty in paying loans that are secured against their property.

“The fund comprises two schemes, 'Mortgage to Rent' - a social landlord can buy the owners’ home with help from a Scottish Government subsidy and allow them continue to live there as a tenant and ‘Mortgage to Shared Equity', which involves the Scottish Government taking a financial stake in the owners’ home.”

“The Debt Arrangement Scheme is the only government-backed scheme to help people pay back their debts in a dignified way, protecting them from the threat of action by their creditors.

“We are very concerned that the growth of payday lending is perpetuating a culture of exploitation as high interest borrowing casts thousands of people in Scotland into a spiral of debt. The ‘12 Days of Debtmas’ campaign was aimed at people who may have got into financial trouble in the run-up to last Christmas by using high interest, short-term credit.

“The Scottish Government has made clear that with the powers of independence we would act immediately to bring pay day lending under control.”