All-Scotland Personal Injury Court Turns 10 Years Old

The All-Scotland Personal Injury Court (“ASPIC”) celebrated its 10^th anniversary on 22^ndSeptember this year. Established in 2015, this specialist personal injury court was designed to provide a more efficient streamlined process for personal injury claims.

Initially, ASPIC was made up of just one court but, over the past decade, there has been a significant year on year increase in the number of cases that are litigated in ASPIC. According, to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, ASPIC deals with over 6,500 new actions every year and around 70% of all personal injury claims are now raised in ASPIC. This has resulted in an increased volume of both procedural and proof business each week. As a result, it was announced in April 2025 that a second court would be established for ASPIC.

One noticeable challenge, which ASPIC along with all Courts encountered, was the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this brought about technological advances. Practitioners quickly got used to appearing at remote hearings and Proofs. Whilst procedural hearings continue to take place remotely, Proofs have returned to in-person hearings. This is much more efficient particularly when there are voluminous productions to put to a witness. A party can still seek, by way of motion, to have a certain witness to give their evidence remotely. For example, we have been involved in a number of hybrid Proofs where a medical expert has given evidence remotely. This can be cost-effective as it avoids a medical expert having to postpone a busy clinical practice and spend days waiting to give evidence.

ASPIC have already announced greater digitalisation and an increased use of electronic document submission. It will also be interesting to see how significant a role AI will play over the next decade.

ASPIC also encountered the implementation of Qualified One-Way Costs Shifting (QOCS). The implementation of QOCS has significantly altered the landscape in which ASPIC operates. QOCS was introduced in 2021, and it provides that the court must not make an award of expenses against a pursuer where that pursuer conducts proceedings in an appropriate manner. There are certain exceptions where this protection is lost including but not limited to:

• Where a pursuer makes a fraudulent representation or acts fraudulently.
• Where the pursuer or his agents behave in a manner which is manifestly unreasonable.
• Where the pursuer conduced proceedings in a way that is an abuse of process.
• Where the pursuer abandons his claim.

Being a specialist personal injury court has resulted in ASPIC hearing many of the test cases in relation to these exceptions. For example, the court have heard opposed motions in relation to how the term “manifestly unreasonable” should be interpreted and what evidence is required to prove “fraudulent representation”. The jurisprudence in relation to these exceptions continues to develop and ASPIC will undoubtedly still be at the forefront of these decisions.

As ASPIC enters its second decade, it will, no doubt, be faced with both opportunities and further challenges. The landscape of personal injury litigation will continue to develop, and ASPIC will continue to evolve to keep pace with both technological advancements and legislative changes.

If you would like to discuss the contents of this blog further, please get in touch with our insurance lawyers, or your usual Brodies contact.