The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 is an
Act of the Scottish Parliament
An Act of the Scottish Parliament ( gd, Achd Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create Acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the succes ...
passed in October 2014 to improve access to the civil justice system and while making the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh a ...
a place for the more complex cases.
History
The Bill was introduced by
Kenny MacAskill MSP on 6 February 2014. The Bill was passed by the Parliament on 7 October 2014.
It received Royal Assent on 6 May 2015.
Provisions
The legislation created a national
Sheriff Appeal Court
The Sheriff Appeal Court is a court in Scotland that hears appeals from summary criminal proceedings in the sheriff courts and justice of the peace courts, and hears appeals on bail decisions made in solemn proceedings in the sheriff court. ...
.
The legislation raised the threshold from £5,000 to £100,000 for a case to be brought to the Court of Session. Some changes, such as a reduced ability to recover counsel's fees, make arbitration a more attractive means of dispute resolution.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Progress of the billat Scottish Parliament
Acts of the Scottish Parliament 2014
Courts of Scotland