Petition · PE01455 · Session 4
Public access to court records
Signatures
1
Comments
1
Considered
3 meetings
What it asks
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to consider the need for new legislation to create a free of charge public right of access to information generated in relation to court proceedings, including all documents which have been read in open court, whether aloud or not, and to proactively publish this information online.
What the petitioner did first
I have previously attempted to obtain court documents by writing to a local sheriff court. However, this was refused, and I discovered that there is a Scottish Court Service policy against disclosing court documents to anyone other than parties or their legal representatives.
I believe that this policy is contrary to the common law of open justice and raised the issue with my constituency MSP who advised me to contact the Scottish Ministers to see if they intended to legislate in this area.
The response from the Scottish Ministers was that “In general terms, members of the public are only entitled to access civil case papers if they have an interest in the case. This usually means only the parties to the cause and their legal representatives. Any other person wishing access to civil papers should be directed to the solicitors for the parties”.
As the Ministers indicated that they did not intend to change the law, I have decided to submit a petition to the Scottish Parliament.
I believe that this policy is contrary to the common law of open justice and raised the issue with my constituency MSP who advised me to contact the Scottish Ministers to see if they intended to legislate in this area.
The response from the Scottish Ministers was that “In general terms, members of the public are only entitled to access civil case papers if they have an interest in the case. This usually means only the parties to the cause and their legal representatives. Any other person wishing access to civil papers should be directed to the solicitors for the parties”.
As the Ministers indicated that they did not intend to change the law, I have decided to submit a petition to the Scottish Parliament.
Where it was considered
Official Report-
27 Nov 20121 mention
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5 Feb 20131 mention
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15 Mar 20131 mention
Signatures by country
4 online signaturesComments
1 comment, oldest first-
E.P.Drummond 14 Oct 2012In principle why are we in Scotland denied the right to access any information unless we incur the additional cost of having to employ a Lawyer to access any records that are, or should be available to the public. I'm taken aback that this information is available in England & Wales yet we in Scotland are denied similar rights.