The following is a summary of some of the current changes to rules, consultations and other updates which may be of interest to those working in litigation.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
The Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee published its report I won't see you in court: alternative dispute resolution in Scotland on 1 October 2018. The report looks at barriers to the uptake of alternative dispute resolution and asks whether it is time for compulsory alternative dispute resolution. It concludes that now is not the time for compulsory alternative dispute resolution. However some interesting proposals which may provoke further debate are made, for example, the introduction of a more robust duty on solicitors to advise their clients about ADR and mandatory information meetings on ADR prior to court action.
Court of Session - Cancellation fees for hearings
A change to the Court of Session's policy on charging fees for late cancellation of hearings before three or more judges has been announced. It will now be charging cancellation fees where a hearing is cancelled by parties within 7 working days. Fees will not be charged where the court requires to cancel the hearing. This change was introduced from 24 September.
Court of Session - Time Limits for Civil Jury Precepts
The Act of Sederunt (Rules of the Court of Session 1994 Amendment)(Jury Trials) 2018 amends the previous rules on the time limits for parties to a Court of Session civil action to request the issue of a jury precept so that this must be done further in advance of the trial diet to give more time to SCTS to cite jurors. The deadlines are now 70 days before the diet for pursuers and 63 days before the diet for any other party. This came into force on 21 September.
Insolvency Rules
The Insolvency (Scotland) (Company Voluntary Arrangement and Administration) Rules 2018 which are due to come into force in April 2019 have been laid before the UK Parliament. Publication of the Insolvency (Scotland) (Receivership and Winding Up) Rules 2018, which are due to be laid before the Scottish Parliament, is awaited.
Scottish Law Commission
The deadline for responding to the Scottish Law Commission's consultation on Insurable Interest has been extended to 31 October.
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