Policy & Research

Legal

Civil Justice Advisory Group

Report

The Civil Justice Advisory Group reconvened in early 2010 to consider the proposals of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, led by the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill. Given its instrumental role leading up to the civil courts review, the Group felt it was very well placed to react to the review’s proposals, and also to make its own recommendations about future courses of action. The Group’s deliberations have focused principally on those aspects of the review of most direct relevance for consumers, namely those recommendations relating to pre-court measures, including improving access to justice for party litigants, the proposed ‘third -tier’ of civil jurisdiction, and new simplified procedure.

The Group published its report on 18 January 2011. The final report of the Group can be accessed here. A summary of the final report can be accessed here.

Written consultation

In order to inform its work, the Group launched a consultation in July 2010, which aimed to debate some of the key proposals of the Gill review report and determine the best way forward. The consultation process ran until the 24 September 2010. The consultation paper can be accessed by clicking here. Permission has been given to share the following consultation submissions:

-          Christine Boch
-          Catalyst Mediation
-          Citizens’ Advice Scotland
-          Equality and Human Rights Commission
-          Peter McNeill
-          Joan Pentland-Clark
-          Public legal Education Network
-          Relationship Scotland
-          Scottish Legal Aid Board
-          Scottish Mediation Network
-          Scottish Women’s Aid
-          David Semple
-          Which?

Consultation seminar

To support the consultation process, the Group hosted a free consultation seminar on Monday 13 September 2010 at the Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh. This full-day event was interactive, with roundtable discussions and feedback sessions. Professor Dame Hazel Genn, Dean of Laws and Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at University College London was the keynote speaker.

A transcript of the consultation can be accessed here.

The presentations from the seminar can be accessed by clicking below.

Professor Dame Hazel Genn
Charlie Irvine
Crispin Passmore
Richard Young
Sarah O’Neill

The seminar programme can be accessed by clicking here.

Background to the Civil Justice Advisory Group

In 2004, the Scottish Consumer Council, one of Consumer Focus Scotland’s predecessor bodies, established the Civil Justice Advisory Group, supported by the then Scottish Executive and funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The Group, chaired by the Right Honourable Lord Coulsfield, held six seminars between September 2004 and April 2005, structured to mirror a user’s journey through the civil justice system, from seeking advice on their dispute, through the dispute resolution process, to the enforcement stage. The Group published its final report, The Civil Justice System in Scotland – a case for review? (available as a PDF file by clicking here) in November 2005. The Group recommended that there should be a review of several important aspects of the civil justice system in Scotland, the majority of which were then taken forward by the civil courts review.

Following the publication of Lord Gill’s civil courts review report, Consumer Focus Scotland reconvened the Civil Justice Advisory Group, under the continued chairmanship of the Right Honourable Lord Coulsfield in early 2010. The agreed remit of the Group was:

Following the publication of the Scottish civil courts review report and the two reports of the Administrative Justice Steering Group, this group aims to produce practical solutions to ensure that individual users have real and effective access to appropriate, affordable and fair dispute resolution processes in order to resolve their legal problems. Framed in the context of the civil courts review’s recommendations relating to assistance to improve access to justice, proposals for a new simplified procedure and a third tier of judicial office, the Group will specifically examine:

  1. what an appropriate, affordable and fair dispute resolution process or processes should look like, particularly for claims of low financial value, housing cases, family cases and children’s hearing referrals;
  2. what structures would best support such a process or processes, including what links might be made with the administrative justice system;
  3. how it can be ensured that those with civil disputes have appropriate and effective routes to justice at the appropriate time, including access to methods of dispute resolution outwith the courts, such as alternative dispute resolution; and
  4. what range of assistance (excluding advice and funding) is required to ensure and support appropriate and effective access to justice, including public legal education, ‘McKenzie Friends,’ lay representation and use of IT.  

In order to reflect the scope of its remit, the membership of the Group was reviewed and expanded from its original composition. The newly formed group began its work in June 2010.