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.”
[u1]More accurately, it’s
79 % of cases in the General Department of the Court of
Session. The General Department hears about 70% of all cases at the Court of
Session.