Is the Taylor Review the Scottish Jackson, asks Jenny Dickson
“Improving access to justice in a meaningful way” lies at the heart of the Taylor Review of Expenses and Funding of Civil Litigation in Scotland. That has been the guiding principle behind Sheriff Principal Taylor’s numerous recommendations.
The headlines are the introduction of qualified one way costs shifting (QOCS) and damages based agreements (DBAs). Both are major changes to the expenses landscape in Scotland, but ones which England has been discussing for years following the 2009 Report by Lord Justice Jackson. So can Taylor just be described as “McJackson”?
Changes to the costs regime in England & Wales and the likely effect of those changes on both the English and the UK claims market have influenced Taylor. Further, there is the continued concern (felt in both jurisdictions) of “forum shopping”. Both legal systems wish to ensure that they are fair and sufficiently attractive to encourage claimants to raise litigation in their courts.
That said, the Scottish and English court systems have always had very different approaches
