Scotland's Child Abuse Storm Gathers

In 2008, the failure of an appeal by two former residents of a Scottish children's home was instrumental in the abandonment of hundreds of actions for historic child abuse in Scotland.

The claimants had appealed against a court ruling dismissing their case because of a three-year statutory time bar. Both had left the home decades before coming forward in the late 1990s, when allegations of abuse surfaced in the media.

This publicity spurred the claimants to seek justice, but the courts ruled there was a real risk of substantial prejudice to the defenders because so much time had elapsed. This judgment deterred many from pursing claims for historic child abuse, but now that is changing.