Highlands to have dedicated commercial court
18 Jan 07
Specialist sheriffs and IT facilities to streamline progress of cases
A new commercial court for the Highlands and Islands which makes use of video conferencing will start hearing cases from February of this year.
The new dedicated court will allow for disputes to be heard locally and at a much earlier stage. It will initially cover the sheriff courts of Inverness, Dingwall and Portree and will be run by Sheriff Derek Pyle and Sheriff Alisdair MacFadyen.
The sheriffs will use technology to allow litigants and their representatives to proceed with actions and cut down on the number of costly court attendances. Much of the work will be done by email or telephone conference, and video conferencing facilities have also been installed in the Inverness and Dingwall courts.
Sheriff Pyle said: “This is a major innovation for the resolution of commercial disputes in the Highlands. The advantage of the commercial court is that at a very early stage in the action, the commercial sheriff has the opportunity to consider with the parties and their representatives what are the real issues in dispute and to seek either an early amicable resolution of the dispute or to rule on the issues at a hearing which can take place within a short period after the raising of the action."
Both sheriffs practised as commercial litigators prior to their appointment to the bench.