15 March 2018
It has been over a year now since the introduction of the core Simple Procedure rules in Scotland. The rules were aimed at providing a speedy, inexpensive and informal procedure for the resolution of non-personal injury civil disputes of a cash value up to £5,000.
The introduction of the Simple Procedure Special Claims Rules, which will extend the rules to other types of civil actions (such as actions for damages arising out of personal injury, eviction and aliment actions) was initially scheduled for April 2018. However, this deadline has now been pushed back to autumn 2018.
This revised deadline was agreed by the Making Justice Work Programme Board (“the Board”) to allow additional time to consider feedback from court users, evaluate the Core Rules and to incorporate any improvements before introducing the Special Case Rules.
The core Simple Procedure rules are currently being reviewed to identify areas where improvements can be made before the procedure is extended to personal injury claims. It is hoped that the Board will identify the need to further simplify the rules relating to expenses in simple procedure cases during this period.
The current expenses position is uncertain and open to interpretation. This has resulted in certain claimant firms testing the rules before the courts to try and maximise their expenses entitlement in simple procedure claims.
The courts have already produced a number of inconsistent decisions on simple procedure expenses and, for so long as there is a lack of guidance and clarity in relation to these rules, the lifespan of certain simple procedure claims will continue to be unnecessarily prolonged.
The result is likely to be the court’s time and energy being increasingly focused on attempting to resolve expenses disputes between solicitors. This seems far removed from the stated aims of simple procedure.
Contact
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Angus Gillies |