Scottish Court Fees 2025-2027
Overview
This consultation seeks views on a proposal to apply a 3% inflationary increase to all court fees from 1 April 2026, followed by a further 3% increase from 1 April 2027.
The proposals set out modest, inflation-linked adjustments over the next two years, with court fee increases scheduled for April 2026 and April 2027. These changes are intended to provide a measured approach to maintaining sustainable funding for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) while a wider review of the court fee structure is being carried out.
Read the consultation paper. The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. You may find it useful to read or refer to while responding.
Consultation questions preview
The consultation questions are included here for your reference. Please click 'Begin consultation' at the bottom of this page to proceed.
Do you agree that court fees should rise by 3% commencing 1 April 2026 and a further 3% commencing 1 April 2027?
Do you consider a two-year inflationary increase to be a reasonable approach to maintaining the value of court fee income while longer-term reform is being developed?
Do you agree that, in parallel with the proposed fee increases, a full review of the court fee structure should be undertaken by the Court Fee Working Group?
Do you have any comments on the proposed timing, scope or priorities of the future public consultation on court fee reform, including the work of the Court Fee Working Group?
Do you have any other comments or suggestions, including any minor amendments to the current court fee structure or exemptions, that you feel should be considered?
Do you consider that any of the proposals in this consultation paper are likely to have a disproportionate effect on people or communities who face discrimination or social exclusion owing to race, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or any other factor?
Useful information about responding to this consultation
As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.
Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.
On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.
After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our Terms of Use.
All relevant submitted responses will be analysed. This may be carried out by third party organisations who Scottish Government, its executive agencies or non-ministerial offices, contract to do this work. Such data sharing will be governed by appropriate contractual arrangements to keep your data secure.
An analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the Scottish Government website and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us.
You can also join our consultation mailing list where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).
Why your views matter
The Scottish Government considers that consultation on the proposed changes to court fees and the level of fees set is important. We will take consultation responses into consideration when drawing up the Scottish Statutory Instruments that will set court fee levels for the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2028.
Give us your views
This activity will open on 23 Dec 2025. Please come back on or after this date to give us your views.Interests
- Equality, Welfare and Rights
- Law and Order
- Main hub
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