Access to justice

Everyone is likely to become involved in some kind of civil dispute during their lifetime. This might be a dispute over faulty goods, issues of divorce and care of children, property, or personal injuries suffered as a result of an accident. The law provides a wide range of rights to protect people in such situations. However, these rights are meaningless unless those who become involved in disputes have access to an appropriate, affordable, means of resolving them.

The Scottish Consumer Council has a longstanding interest in ensuring that the interests of Scottish consumers are articulated in relation to access to justice.

The providers of services such as solicitors, the courts, advice providers and others have their own, sometimes powerful, mechanisms for articulating their views, yet individual consumers are not so well organised. There is a need to ensure that policy makers receive a coherent well-argued account of the needs of consumers in relation access to justice.

Our work in this area has largely focused on: