The Views and Experiences of Civil Court Users

The aim of this research was to provide an understanding of the nature and drivers of civil litigants' views and experiences of the Sheriff Courts in Scotland. Qualitative depth interviews were conducted with 35 civil litigants and included those with and without legal representation who had been party to a civil action in the Scottish courts within the previous two years. The full research report can be viewed here.

Technical details A total of 35 interviews were conducted with a broad range of civil litigants. The sample was not intended to be representative of the population of civil litigants as a whole, but was designed to include those who had received advice from an in-court advice service or who had made an application to the Scottish Legal Aid Board for civil legal aid. The sample included court users with and without legal representation who had been party to a civil action in the Scottish Courts within the past two years. Litigants had been involved in a variety of case types, including small claims actions, debt, housing/eviction actions and mortgage repossession proceedings.