Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014

The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp 18) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in October 2014 to improve access to the civil justice system and while making the Court of Session a place for the more complex cases.

Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014

Act of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
Long title	An Act of the Scottish Parliament to make provision about the sheriff courts; to establish a Sheriff Appeal Court; to make provision about civil court procedure; to make provision about appeals in civil proceedings; to make provision about appeals in criminal proceedings; to make provision about judges of the Court of Session; to make provision about the Scottish Land Court; to make provision about justice of the peace courts; to rename the Scottish Court Service and give it functions in relation to tribunals; to provide for assistants to the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland; and for connected purposes.
Citation	2014 asp 18
Introduced by	Kenny MacAskill
Territorial extent	Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	10 November 2014
Commencement	22 September 2015
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through the Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

History

The origins of this radical legislative reform lie with the Gill Report of 2009.^[1] The bill was introduced by Kenny MacAskill MSP on 6 February 2014.^[2] The bill was passed by the Parliament on 7 October 2014.^[3] It received Royal Assent on 6 May 2015.

Provisions

The legislation created a national Sheriff Appeal Court.^[3]

The legislation raised the threshold from £5,000 to £100,000 for a case to be brought to the Court of Session.^[4] Some changes, such as a reduced ability to recover counsel's fees, make arbitration a more attractive means of dispute resolution.^[5]