All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court, ‘ASPIC’

Produced in partnership with Frank Hughes and Rachel Henry of Clyde & Co LLP
Practice notes

All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court, ‘ASPIC’

Produced in partnership with Frank Hughes and Rachel Henry of Clyde & Co LLP

Practice notes
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The Court’s background and name

Section 41 of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 gave to Scottish Ministers the power to provide, by order and with the consent of the Lord President, ‘that the jurisdiction of a Sheriff of a specified Sheriffdom sitting at a specified sheriff court extends territorially throughout Scotland for the purposes of dealing with specified types of civil proceedings.’

The Act came into force on 22 September 2015. From that date, the exclusive monetary jurisdiction of Scotland’s sheriff courts was increased from £5,000 to £100,000.

The All-Scotland Sheriff Court (Sheriff Personal injury Court) Order 2015, SSI 2015/213, was the first, and to date only, order made under the section 41 power. The key parts of this order are:

  1. Article 2(2): ‘an all-Scotland sheriff court sitting by virtue of this order is to be referred to as the Sheriff Personal Injury Court.'

  2. Article 3: this new court can deal with ‘actions of damages for, or arising from, personal injuries or death of a person

Frank Hughes
Frank Hughes


Frank conducts insurance related litigation across major and complex loss, emerging risks and international litigation, including to the UK Supreme Court. He is an accredited Specialist in Personal Injuries and has acted as an expert witness on solicitor's negligence. He tutored for many years in Public Law/Judicial Review at Glasgow University and he is a member of the core committee of the Law Society of Scotland, its Regulatory Committee. He has presented on many insurance related subjects throughout the UK and internationally. He is a former Chair of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers in Scotland.

Rachel Henry
Rachel Henry

Solicitor (Partner), Clyde & Co LLP


Rachel has 16 years’ experience, specialising in large loss and catastrophic claims for 10 years. She is highly-regarded in her niche expertise in defending catastrophic and complex claims.  She deals with a wide spectrum of cases, including RTAs, employers’ liability, public liability and international claims. They primarily involve brain injuries, spinal injuries and chronic pain. She also deals with claims involving fatalities. 
 
She has extensive knowledge in dealing with stakeholders and understands the importance of working closely with them to achieve the best outcome is achieved for each.
 
Rachel will often work alongside our regulatory team in early investigations of serious accidents.  

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Personal injury definition
What does Personal injury mean?

An injury to the body or mind as opposed to property.

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