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3.1 | What is this Part about? | |
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(1) | This Part is about how the claimant makes a claim and what the court will do with that claim. | |
3.2 | How is a claim made? | |
(1) | The process for making a claim is: | |
(a) | the claimant completes a Claim Form (see rule 3.3), | |
(b) | the claimant sends the Claim Form to the court (see rule 3.7), | |
(c) | the sheriff clerk checks and registers the Claim Form (see rule 3.9), | |
(d) | the sheriff clerk issues a timetable for the case (see rule 3.10), and | |
(e) | the Claim Form is formally served on the respondent, either by the sheriff clerk, a solicitor or a sheriff officer (see Part 6). | |
3.3 | How do you complete a Claim Form? | |
(1) | The claimant must set out the following information in the Claim Form: | |
(a) | the identity of the claimant, including the claimant’s address and whether the claimant is an individual, a company or another type of organisation, | |
(b) | the identity of the respondent, including the respondent’s address (where known) and whether the respondent is an individual, a company or another type of organisation, | |
(c) | the essential factual background to the dispute, | |
(d) | what the claimant wants from the respondent if the claim is successful, | |
(e) | why the claim should succeed, | |
(f) | what steps the claimant has already taken (if any) to try to resolve the dispute with the respondent. | |
(2) | The claimant must list in the Claim Form any documents or other evidence that the claimant thinks support the claim. | |
(3) | The claimant must list in the Claim Form any witnesses (other than the claimant and the respondent) that the claimant thinks support the claim. | |
3.4 | What if there is more than one claimant? | |
(1) | If there is more than one claimant, the claimant must complete a Further Claimant Form for each further claimant. | |
(2) | The Further Claimant Form must identify the further claimant, including the further claimant’s address and whether the further claimant is an individual, a company or another type of organisation. | |
3.5 | What if there are more than two respondents? | |
(1) | If there are more than two respondents, the claimant must set out the claim against all respondents in the Claim Form. | |
(2) | The claimant must also complete a Further Respondent Form for each further respondent. | |
(3) | The Further Respondent Form must identify the further respondent, including the further respondent’s address (where known) and whether the further respondent is an individual, a company or another type of organisation. | |
3.6 | What if the respondent uses a trading name? | |
(1) | If the respondent uses a trading name, a claim may be made against them using that trading name. | |
3.7 | What do you do with a completed Claim Form? | |
(1) | The completed Claim Form must be sent to the sheriff court. | |
(2) | If the Claim Form has been completed on paper then two copies must be sent to the sheriff court. | |
3.8 | How do you ask for provisional orders to be made? | |
(1) | Provisional orders are orders which protect or secure the claimant’s position before the sheriff makes a final decision in a case. | |
(2) | There are three types of provisional order: | |
(a) | an arrestment on the dependence under section 15A(1) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 (this is an order freezing the respondent’s goods or money held by a third party), | |
(b) | an inhibition on the dependence under section 15A(1) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 (this is an order preventing the respondent from selling their home or other land, or taking out a secured loan), and | |
(c) | an interim attachment under section 9A(1) of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (this is an order preventing the respondent from selling or removing their goods). | |
(3) | Part 20 of these Rules is about how the claimant may apply for provisional orders. | |
3.9 | What will the court do with the Claim Form? | |
(1) | The sheriff clerk will check the Claim Form for problems which mean that it cannot be registered. Such problems might include: | |
(a) | the Claim Form not being accompanied by the correct fee, | |
(b) | the Claim Form being sent to the wrong sheriff court, | |
(c) | the Claim Form asking for something that is not possible in simple procedure, such as making a claim for over £5,000, | |
(d) | the Claim Form being incomplete. | |
(2) | If there are no such problems, the sheriff clerk must register the claim. | |
(3) | The sheriff clerk must ask for the approval of the sheriff before registering the claim if: | |
(a) | the respondent’s address is unknown, | |
(b) | the claimant is seeking provisional orders or interim orders, or | |
(c) | the sheriff clerk thinks that the claim requires the attention of the sheriff for some other reason. | |
3.10 | What happens next? | |
(1) | After registering a claim, the sheriff clerk must send the claimant a Timetable. | |
(2) | The Timetable must set out the timetable for the case, including: | |
(a) | the last date for service, and | |
(b) | the last date for a response. | |
3.11 | What is the last date for service? | |
(1) | The last date for service is the date by which the Claim Form must be formally served on the respondent. | |
(2) | This must normally be 3 weeks before the last date for a response. | |
(3) | If the respondent does not live in an EU member state, the last date for service must normally be 6 weeks before the last date for a response. | |
(4) | If the respondent is a business with no place of business in an EU member state, the last date for service must normally be 6 weeks before the last date for a response. | |
3.12 | What is the last date for a response? | |
(1) | The last date for a response is the date by which the respondent must send a Response Form to the court and to the claimant. | |
3.13 | How can the timetable be changed? | |
(1) | The sheriff may change the timetable at the request of the sheriff clerk or at the request of one of the parties. | |
(2) | The claimant may request a change (if, for example, there has been a difficulty serving the Claim Form on the respondent) by sending the court a Change of Timetable Application. | |
(3) | The respondent may request a change (if, for example, the Claim Form was formally served on them late) by sending the court a Change of Timetable Application. | |
(4) | If the sheriff changes the timetable, the sheriff clerk must send a new Timetable to the claimant or to the parties. |