Civil court structure in Scotland


Produced in partnership with Richard McMeeken of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP
Practice notes

Civil court structure in Scotland


Produced in partnership with Richard McMeeken of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP

Practice notes
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STOP PRESS: following a consultation process, the Supreme Court Rules 2024, SI 2024/949 are due to come into force on 2 December 2024, together with new Practice Directions. Unless directed otherwise, cases filed before then will remain subject to the current Supreme Court Rules 2009, SI 2009/1603 and related Practice Directions (Supreme Court Rules 2024, SI 2024/949, r 62). For further details, see:

  1. •

    LNB News 12/09/2024 17—Supreme Court Rules 2024

  2. •

    LNB News 14/08/2024 3—Revised Supreme Court Rules expected December 2024

  3. •

    LNB News 08/08/2024 25—UKSC publishes response to consultation on revision of Supreme Court Rules

  4. •

    LNB News 02/04/2024 75—Supreme Court publishes consultation on proposed revision of rules

This Practice Note provides an overview of the court structure for civil cases in Scotland, covering the Supreme Court, the Court of Session, the Sheriff Appeal Court and the Sheriff Courts. It summarises the role of each court, how they are constituted and their jurisdiction. It also considers the procedural rules applicable in each court, the binding nature of their judgments

Richard McMeeken
Richard McMeeken

Lawyer, Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP

Richard is a partner in the commercial litigation team at Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP where he has worked for 20 years. He is ranked as a leading individual for commercial litigation in Chambers. He has a broad practice focussing on disputes in the areas of commercial contract, real estate, professional liability and insolvency. He also deals with cases in the areas of fraud and financial crime and is the firm's Money Laundering Compliance Officer. In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Richard leads Morton Fraser's contentious trusts and executries team which is ranked Band 1 in Legal 500. He is a solicitor advocate (2011) and is qualified (although does not currently practice) in England & Wales (2008). Richard also has an academic interest in the law and regularly speaks at conferences on his areas of expertise and regularly writes on legal developments. He is an editor of the Civil Practice Bulletin in Scotland and, for 10 years, was the lead commercial litigation tutor on the Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh. He is a board member of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Court of Session definition
What does Court of Session mean?

The highest civil court in Scotland.

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