The Faculty of Advocates has published a response to the Scottish Civil Justice Council’s (SCJC) questionnaire on pre-action protocols that require necessary steps to be taken before a case can start.
Presently, there are no compulsory pre-action protocols in Scotland. Instead there are four voluntary protocols covering: Court of Session commercial actions; personal injury claims up to £10,000; professional negligence claims up to £20,000; and, industrial disease claims.
With the Courts Reform (Scotland) Bill proposing to give the Court of Session the power to introduce compulsory pre-action protocols, last month, the SCJC began an information gathering exercise on: (1) the current use of voluntary pre-action protocols; and (2) the possible introduction of compulsory protocols.