On 13 February 2007 the Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson,
announced that Lord Gill has been charged with undertaking a review
of the civil justice system. The likelihood of the Civil Justice
Review had been canvassed by the Scottish Executive last
Autumn.
The members of the review panel are now in the process of being
assembled. It would appear that the review, once commenced will
take some time, probably more than a year. It also would appear
that some major structural reform may be considered.
From the perspective of the insurance industry, one major reform
which may be considered is whether the Court of Session should
continue to be the court of first instance in relation to many
relatively low value personal injury claims. At present, the
financial threshold for litigating in the Court of Session remains
a claim for more than £1,500, the Sheriff Court summary cause
limit. The Court of Session and the Sheriff Court have a concurrent
jurisdiction which leaves the pursuer's solicitors with an
effectively free choice of forum.
Recently, in the last twelve months especially, a number of
Judges have adversely commented on the costs involved in litigating
low value claims in the Court of Session. Those comments relate not
only to the costs to the parties, especially in connection with
counsel's fees, but also to the administrative costs as well.
Any change to the present system which resulted in more claims
being litigated in the Sheriff Court would have a beneficial impact
on the overall cost of the exercise.
Gordon Keyden will be co-ordinating the firm's approach to the
Civil Justice Review. Watch this space.