Article

1 June 04

SLAB criteria: Court of Session

Scottish Legal Aid Board clarification of its attitude to Court of Session proceedings in relation to the availability of jury trial

The Scottish Legal Aid Board has provided the Society with a clarification of its attitude to Court of Session proceedings in relation to the availability of jury trial, as follows:

In issue 37 of the Recorder we published guidance on our approach to the financial threshold at which it would be reasonable to grant civil legal aid for proceedings in the Court of Session.

We have since given consideration to a number of observations received. One concern raised relates to the availability of jury trials in the Court of Session and whether this should be regarded as sufficient to make it reasonable to grant legal aid for proceedings in the Court of Session whatever the value of the claim.

If it is intended to raise a Court of Session action for a claim valued at less than £50,000, detailed reasons for this should be provided. These should include:

  • information about any particular complexities or novel points of law that arise in the case;
  • whether the case could be viewed as a test case;
  • where it has been stated that a jury trial will be sought, detailed arguments need to be provided to show that a jury trial would be appropriate and reasonable in all the circumstances. Simply stating that a jury may make a higher award is not, on its own, sufficient justification for Court of Session proceedings;
  • where the case is seen as suitable for the new personal injury procedure in the Court of Session (in place since 1 April 2003) full information should be provided as to why that procedure would be more suitable than sheriff court procedure.

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