Case management changes passed for personal injury actions
Changes to the case management of personal injury actions in the Court of Session are to come into force in March.
New rules have been developed by the Personal Injuries Committee of the Scottish Civil Justice Council for cases proceeding under chapter 42A of the Rules of the Court of Session. They result from operational issues raised by the Court of Session Personal Injury Users Group.
It was highlighted that there was insufficient time between the closing of the record and the hearing of the case on the by order adjustment roll. As a result, hearings have often had to be continued to allow parties more time to comply with requests for information, such as the exchange of medical records.
After consultation with members of the judiciary and practitioners, the new rules provide:
- that the by order adjustment roll hearing is re-named "case management hearing";
- that the pursuer has to lodge their closed record in process within 14 days of the closing of the record;
- for an extended period between the record closing and the case management hearing;
- for the staggered exchange of information in the period between the lodging of the closed record and the case management hearing;
- for a new notification procedure where a party seeks to have the action appointed to debate;
- for the lodging of statements of proposals and joint minutes;
- that should a party fail to comply with certain specified rules concerning the exchange of information, that party may be ordained to appear before the court to explain their non-compliance.
This new approach provides that parties should be more knowledgeable of their respective positions when preparing for case management hearings. It is anticipated that the new structure should facilitate the more efficient exchange of information by parties and a reduction in the number of continuations of hearings.