New PI court takes 16 per cent of Court of Session business
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The latest civil justice statistics, published by Scotland’s Chief Statistician today, show that 77,721 civil law cases were initiated across the Court of Session, sheriff courts and the newly established Sheriff Personal Injury Court in 2015-16 (excluding summary applications). This is a rise of one per cent from the previous year but represents a decrease of 41 per cent since the beginning of the statistical time series in 2008-09. The number of cases initiated in 2015-16 was similar to the previous three years, in contrast to the downward trend observed over the years prior to that.
Compared to the previous year, the number of cases initiated in the Court of Session decreased by 16 per cent. This overall decrease was driven by a 30 per cent decrease in the number of personal injury cases initiated in the Court of Session, as a consequence of the establishment of the Sheriff Personal Injury Court by the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. In contrast, the number of cases initiated in the sheriff courts (which accounted for 93 per cent of all civil law cases) increased by one per cent.
The number of family cases initiated has been decreasing since 2008-09 (by 13 per cent). Divorce / dissolution cases and parental responsibilities and rights cases together accounted for 95 per cent of family cases in 2015-16.
Debt cases made up 45 per cent of all civil court cases initiated in 2015-16. There were three per cent more debt cases than in 2014-15 but 47 per cent fewer than in 2008-09.
The number of personal injury cases initiated in the civil courts was five per cent lower than in 2014-15, but the number of personal injury cases has fluctuated markedly since 2008-09. Cases resulting from a road traffic accident made up the majority of personal injury cases (56 per cent in 2015-16).
The number of damages cases initiated decreased by two per cent compared to the previous year. This continues a long-term downward trend (50 per cent decrease since 2008-09).
There was a 43 per cent drop in initiated cases of repossession following a breach of a mortgage or loan secured on a property, compared to 2014-15. This continues a long-term downward trend (82 per cent decrease since 2008-09).
Initiated cases involving eviction of tenants from a rented property rose in 2015-16 for the third year in a row, but are still 26 per cent lower than in 2008-09.
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