Discount rate and Scottish periodical payments update

It was our understanding that the Ministry of Justice’s response to the Justice Committee’s report was due within 60 days of the report’s publication, which was on 30^th November 2017.

In light of the time that has passed and the lack of any published response, I enquired at the MoJ as to whether its response was to be made public and whether the response was due soon. I received the following on 29^th January 2018:

I can confirm that the Government response to the Justice Committee will be published. Responses to Select Committee reports are generally published within two months of the report, but this is not a strict deadline. I regret that I’m unable at present to let you know when publication is going to take place in this instance.

As a result, we await the publication with bated breath.

Meanwhile, we also received the following update from the Scottish Civil Law and Legal System Division, on 23^rd January 2018, with regard to the introduction of the power to impose periodical payments and the discount rate:

The comments received on the draft provisions are under consideration and no changes to the law in this area have been made as yet. However, the Scottish Government’s legislative programme for 2017-18 included a Damages Bill to amend the law on the Personal Injury Discount Rate following a joint consultation with the UK Government. The Bill will also enable courts to impose periodical payment orders when making an award of damages in respect of a personal injury. A Bill will therefore be brought forward by the end of this coming June.

We look forward to seeing these provisions too!