The All-Scotland Personal Injury Court (otherwise known as ASPIC) deals with personal injury cases valued at £5,000[1] and over. If the value of the case exceeds £100,000 the pursuer can either raise the action in ASPIC or the Court of Session.
A judgement published yesterday refused the first defender’s motion to have the case remitted from ASPIC to the Court of Session and discussed the specialist nature of ASPIC. The motion was made in an alleged clinical negligence action for £1.5 million, involving 5 members of staff from Dumfries and Galloway Health Board.
The first defender’s made the motion on the following grounds:
- the case was of particular importance and complexity making the remit appropriate; and
- the Court of Session had “sharper” tools for dealing with the case management decisions that would be required to progress the case.
The pursuer opposed the motion on the basis the remit was not appropriate. They submitted that whilst the case was of importance and of a complex nature neither of these factors justified a remit.
Addressing the submissions made by the respective parties, Sheriff McGowan stated the present case raised no novel matters of law and that, ultimately, the first defender had said very little on why it was appropriate to remit the action. The Sheriff also highlighted that ASPIC regularly heard cases “involving considerations of negligence, causation and quantum” and that “persons of appropriate qualifications and experience could and did appear both here and in the Court of Session”. It was accepted the case was far from straightforward; however, it was noted that professional negligence case rarely are. Whilst there were five medical professionals blamed in the particular case, the Sheriff stated that in itself did not “make the case so extraordinarily complex as to require remit.” Accordingly, the motion was refused.
If you have suffered an injury as a result of clinical negligence, you will normally have only three years to bring a claim, so it is important to act quickly. To talk to a person who can help, now, call us on 0330 029 9987 or contact us online.
[1] When the cases relate to work-related accidents the threshold is in excess of £1,000
