Scots civil procedure governs the rules of

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what kin ...

in Scotland. It deals with the jurisdiction of the country's civil courts, namely 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 Edinburg ...

and sheriff courts. Civil procedure is regulated by Acts of Sederunt which are

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

s passed by the Court of Session. Rules for the functioning of the Court of Session were decided upon by the Court of Session Rules Council, which was instituted by the

Administration of Justice (Scotland) Act 1933 The Administration of Justice (Scotland) Act 1933 is an act of the Parliament at Westminster legislating for Scotland which introduced changes in Scottish legal procedure "following the recommendations of a Royal Commission which reported in ...

and reconfirmed by the Court of Session Act 1988 and those for the Sheriff Court were agreed on by the Sheriff Court Rules Council, which is the body responsible for reviewing the Sheriff Court civil procedure under review.

Primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...

may also be enacted to regulate civil procedure, such as the

Civil Evidence (Scotland) Act 1988 Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience * Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a memb ...

which removed requirements for corroborating evidence. However, rules for both the Court of Session and sheriff courts are now decided upon by the

Scottish Civil Justice Council Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

. Since the enactment of the

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...

, civil procedure has increasingly been shaped by case law from the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

Proposed reform of civil procedure

In 2009 Lord Gill, the Lord Justice Clerk, delivered his ''Scottish Civil Courts Review'' which was heralded as the "most far-reaching reform of Scotland's civil justice system in nearly two centuries".David Leask, "Blueprint for cheaper, faster, fairer justice for all", '' he Scotsman', 1 October 2009, p 4 via factiva.com accessed 23 October 2011. Among his 206 proposals were: * a major shift of work from the Court of Session to sheriff courts, * removal of the jurisdictional overlap between those courts, * specialisation of sheriffs in areas such as family law, commerce, personal injury, * new district judges to deal with less legally complicated and low-value civil actions such as small claims and housing disputes. In November 2010 the Scottish Government released its response to the ''Review'' accepting "the majority of Lord Gill's recommendations" including expressly the following proposals:The Scottish Government, "Proposals for Civil Justice Reform" (Media Release), Edinburgh, Scotland, 11 November 2010, via factiva.com accessed 23 October 2011. * "Civil court business should be reallocated to more appropriate levels, with a far greater proportion of civil court business to be heard by the sheriff courts * "A specialised personal injury court should be established as part of Edinburgh Sheriff Court * "The creation of a new Sheriff Appeal Court * "The introduction of a new role of District Judge * "Adoption of an improved and more active approach to case management * "The introduction of designated specialist judges" In October 2011, the Scottish Government announced consultation on appointments to a new Scottish Civil Justice Council to draft rules of procedure for civil proceedings in the Court of Session and sheriff court. The establishment of the council was one of Lord Gill's 2009 recommendations.Julie Hamilton, "Scottish Government Consulting On Appointment Of A Scottish Civil Justice Council", Mondaq Business Briefing, 14 October 2011 via factiva.com accessed 23 October 2010.

References

*AD Murray, 'Court of Session procedure: past, present and future' (1997) 31 Scots Law Times 259-263 *G Maher and B Rodger, ''Civil Jurisdiction in the Scottish Courts'' (Greens Practice Library 2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Scots Civil Procedure

Civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what kin ...

Codes of civil procedure

Civil procedure

Proposed reform of civil procedure

See also

References