Civil law reform - seeking a better family court system

Scottish and English courts will remain separate in the foreseeable future, but as both systems are currently undergoing reform it's useful to compare progress and try to spot any good ideas from England that could improve how Scottish courts run family cases.

The Scottish Government held a 'stakeholder' event last week for people involved with family law to discuss proposals for a new third tier of the judiciary.  This change was proposed in the Gill Review, creating a junior class of summary sheriffs to hear civil cases of lower value.

Several people commented that family cases should not be downgraded by this change.  The opportunity for specialised family sheriffs,  swifter handling of child contact cases, early identification of contentious cases and the need for sheriffs to manage cases and stay with them were all mentioned as desirable changes. 

Concerns were expressed about whether a less experienced sheriff could cope with the more difficult cases, and also how specialisation would work in the more remote courts where there are only few sheriffs, sometimes only one.

Meanwhile, in England a new family court will be established next year.  Mr Justice Ryder set out the process and timetable and emphasised the inquisitorial role of the new family court in a recent speech.

FNF Scotland will be watching both systems as they change and providing our comments on how Scottish courts could improve their handling of child contact and related cases.