Types of Scottish courts

Civil courts are concerned with the settlement of disputes between citizens of the state. Citizens include other legal personae such as companies and most public bodies when not acting in an 'administrative' capacity. Housing cases will usually come into this category as they can involve a public body taking action in private law. Civil cases have to be proved on the balance of probabilities.

There is a separate procedure for challenging the public law duties of public bodies. This is called judicial review. In judicial review the decision making process is challenged rather than the decision itself. For more information on judicial review, please see the section on challenging decisions.

Criminal courts are concerned with the enforcement of law and order. In some areas of housing law there are matters that are specifically criminal matters, for example, unlawful eviction. Unlike civil cases where an action can be raised by almost anybody, a prosecution in a criminal case is brought by a procurator fiscal who is a legally qualified official representing the state. Criminal cases are either dealt with by 'summary' or 'solemn' procedure depending on the nature of the offence and the type of penalty that can be imposed.

Criminal cases have to be proved 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

These are courts of law as much as any civil or criminal court. They are different in that they only deal with specific types of claim. In housing law the courts of special jurisdiction that have the most relevance are the First Tier Tribunal Housing and Property Chamber, the Lands Valuation Appeal Court and the Scottish Land Court.