§ Mr. WATTasked the Lord Advocate whether, since the Sheriff Courts Act, 1907, became law, litigants for sums between £20 and £50 have been obliged to pay more in expenses than before the Act; and if so, will he take steps to remedy this?
§ Mr. UREThere are no statistics available to enable me to answer my hon. Friend's question, nor could they be procured without an undue expenditure of time and money. I may refer my hon. Friend to the Report on the Judicial Statistics of Scotland for the year 1909, 2001 Cd. 5417, pp. 102 and 104, where will be found all the statistics available relative to expenses in ordinary and small debt actions in the Sheriff Court.
§ Mr. WATTasked the Lord Advocate whether he has any statistics showing the increase of small debt cases in the sheriff courts in Scotland since the maximum that could be sued for was raised from £12 to £20; and will he say whether the experience gained from the change will lead to the introduction of legislation raising the small debt jurisdiction to £50, with a view to saving expense to litigants for sums under £50?
§ Mr. UREThe statistics which my hon. Friend desires will be found at p. 116 of the Report on the Judicial Statistics of Scotland for the year 1909. The statistics for the year 1910 are not yet available. The answer to the second part of my hon. Friend's question is in the negative.