Report to the People
24th April 2006
Civil Justice
If
you’ve ever been involved in a civil court case, you know it’s an expensive,
uncertain and stressful exercise.
Thankfully,
the vast majority of disputes are resolved without lawyers - and only a fraction
of the cases where legal advice is sought ever make it to a full court hearing.
Still,
the fact remains that some disputes, whether because of a disagreement over the
facts, or the distance between the two parties’ positions, can’t be resolved
without recourse to the courts. And,
given what’s at stake, it’s important that, when called into action, they
deliver a high quality service.
Sadly,
though, research suggests that many people feel alienated from and may lack
confidence in the civil courts. Thursday, therefore, saw Holyrood debating
how we reform and modernise the civil justice system.
This
is something to which the Executive has committed itself and, to be fair, some
progress has been made. There is
now a Commercial Court at Glasgow Sheriff Court and dedicated tribunals for
mental health and additional support for learning.
Further, the new Legal Profession and Legal Aid Bill will reform publicly
funded legal assistance and set up an independent Legal Complaints Commission.
While,
though, we are moving in the right direction, there is still some way to go and
the process of reform is set to continue. We
might hope we’ll never need it, but we have a right to be confident that, if
things do go wrong, we will have access to justice worthy of the name.
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