Consumer Focus Scotland welcome Scottish Govt’s proposals on civil justice, say economic difficulties make need to reform even more critical

Consumer Focus Scotland welcome Scottish Government’s response to Lord Gill. CONSUMER FOCUS SCOTLAND have welcomed the Scottish Government’s response to Lord Gill’s 2009 Civil Courts Review, proposing radical moves to overhaul Scotland’s antiquated civil justice system, which Lord Gill himself described as “a Victorian model that had survived by means of periodic piecemeal reforms”.

While welcoming the SNP administration’s plans to implement 'some' of Lord Gill’s recommendations, Consumer Focus Scotland pointed out the current financial difficulties facing the country makes the need to reform civil justice more critical than ever.

Responding to the publication of the Scottish Government's response to the civil courts review, Sarah O'Neill, Head of Policy and Solicitor at Consumer Focus Scotland, said: "We welcome the publication of the Scottish Government’s response to the civil courts review, and look forward to considering its content in detail. Clearly since the review’s report was published, the economic circumstances in which any reforms are taken forward look very different. Careful thought will need to be given to how best to implement any reforms in this context.”

Ms O’Neill continued : "It would be easy for discussions in the context of the current economic climate to focus only on the impact this has on the practicality and feasibility of reforming the civil justice system. But the economic difficulties people are facing have very real impacts on their experience of legal problems and actually makes the need to reform the system to help people to resolve these as quickly and appropriately as possible even more critical.”

"We are therefore pleased to be able to contribute to this ongoing debate by leading the work of the Civil Justice Advisory Group, under the chairmanship of the Right Honourable Lord Coulsfield. We look forward to publishing the Group's report with recommendations for the way forward in early 2011."

More on the Civil Justice Advisory Group along with details of their recent seminar & presentations from officials can be found HERE

Scottish Government have agreed to introduce Class Actions & other reforms to Scots civil justice system. The Scottish Government announced its intentions late last week to implement ‘some’ of Lord Gill’s Civil Courts review recommendations to reform the Scots ‘Victorian’ civil justice system, bringing Class Actions, a new tier of judge & ‘more effective’ case management to Scotland’s courts system. I reported on those developments here : Scottish Government’s response to Civil Courts Review : Class Actions, more cases to Sheriff Courts, & faster, easier access to justice ‘over years’

The Scottish Government’s full response to Lord Gill’s Civil Courts Review can be viewed online here : Scottish Government Response to the Report and Recommendations of the Scottish Civil Courts Review or can be downloaded directly, here : Scottish Government Civil Courts Review response (pdf)

Readers can download the Civil Courts Review report in pdf format, from the Scottish Courts Website at the following links :

• Volume 1 Chapter 1 - 9 (Covers McKenzie Friends, procedures, advice etc, 2.99Mb)
  
• Volume 2 Chapter 10 - 15 (Covers mainly the issue of Class (multi party) actions etc, 2.16Mb)
  
• Synopsis (215Kb)

My coverage of the Civil Courts Review from its publication to the present, can be found here : Civil Courts Review - The story so far.