Civil Justice
Creating a Scottish Civil Justice Council
Lord Gill, in his Scottish Civil Courts Review, made a total of
206 recommendations for the reform of the civil court
system.
The majority of the recommendations will require changes to the
civil procedure rules of court. As the responsibility for that
rests with the Lord President, some form of body or group of
persons will also be required to assist the Lord President in
making those rules.
Arguably, the reforms could be taken forward by the two existing
rules councils. However, Lord Gill recommended the establishment of
a single rules Council, with a remit similar to that of the Civil
Justice Council in England and Wales, to provide the necessary
overview and to achieve harmonisation of the rules.
As a result, the Scottish Government issued a consultation seeking
views on proposals for the creation of a Scottish Civil Justice
Council to replace the exisiting civil rules councils.