1.—(1) This Act of Sederunt may be cited as the Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016.
(2) It comes into force on 28th November 2016.
(3) A certified copy is to be inserted in the Books of Sederunt.
2.—(1) Schedule 1 contains rules for simple procedure cases and may be cited as the Simple Procedure Rules.
(2) A form referred to in the Simple Procedure Rules means—
(a)the form with that name in Schedule 2, or
(b)an electronic version of the form with that name in Schedule 2, adapted for use by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service with the portal on its website.
(3) Where the Simple Procedure Rules require a form to be used, that form may be varied where the circumstances require it.
3.—(1) In the Simple Procedure Rules—
“a case where the expenses of a claim are capped” means a simple procedure case—
to which an order made under section 81(1) of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014(1) applies; or
in which the sheriff has made a direction under section 81(7) of that Act;
“a decision absolving the responding party” means a decree of absolvitor;
“a decision ordering the responding party to deliver something to the claimant” means a decree for delivery or for recovery of possession;
“a decision ordering the responding party to do something for the claimant” means a decree ad factum praestandum;
“advocate” means a practising member of the Faculty of Advocates;
“any time before the decision of the sheriff has been fully implemented” means, where a charge or arrestment has been executed, any time within 14 days of that execution (or, where there has been more than one, the first such execution);
“a person otherwise entitled to conduct proceedings in the sheriff court” means any person so entitled, including a member of a body which has made a successful application under section 25 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990(2), but only to the extent that the member is exercising rights acquired by virtue of section 27 of that Act;
“a question of EU law” means a question which might lead to a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union for—
a preliminary ruling under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
a ruling on the interpretation of the Conventions mentioned in Article 1 of Schedule 2 to the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982(3) under Article 3 of that Schedule; or
a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the instruments mentioned in Article 1 of Schedule 3 to the Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990(4) under Article 2 of that Schedule;
“child’s property administration order” means an order under section 11(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995(5);
“Child Witness Notice” means a child witness notice under section 12(2) of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004(6);
“damages management order” means an order about how a sum of money awarded as damages is to be paid to and managed for a person under a legal disability;
“Equality Act 2010 claim” means a claim which, in Scotland, the sheriff has jurisdiction to determine as a result of section 114(1) of the Equality Act 2010(7);
“EU member state” means a state which is a member of the European Union, within the meaning of Part II of Schedule 1 to the European Communities Act 1972(8);
“Hague Convention country” means a country in respect of which the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters is in force, other than an EU member state(9);
“independent person” means a commissioner before whom evidence is taken in accordance with section 19 of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004(10);
“next-day postal service which records delivery” means a postal service which—
seeks to deliver documents or other things by post no later than the next working day in all or the majority of cases; and
provides for the delivery of documents or other things by post to be recorded;
“order for time to pay” means—
“ordinary cause” means an action under the Ordinary Cause Rules 1993(14);
“pause a case” means sist a case;
“postal service which records delivery” means a postal service which provides for the delivery of documents or other things by post to be recorded;
“provisional order” means a warrant for—
“Provisional Orders Reconsideration Application” means an application under—
“provisional orders review hearing” means a hearing under—
“restart a case” means recall a sist;
“schedule of inhibition” means a schedule of inhibition in the form prescribed by regulation 3(1)(a) of and Schedule 1 to the Diligence (Scotland) Regulations 2009(21);
“Service Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No. 1393/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents), and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No. 1348/2000, as amended from time to time and as applied by the Agreement made on 19 October 2005 between the European Community and the Kingdom of Denmark on the service of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil and commercial matters;
“Sheriff Personal Injury Court” means the all-Scotland sheriff court sitting by virtue of the All-Scotland Sheriff Court (Sheriff Personal Injury Court) Order 2015(22);
“Special Measures Review Application” means an application under section 13 of the Vulnerable Witness (Scotland) Act 2004(23);
“solicitor” means a qualified solicitor under section 4 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980(24);
“standard order” means one of the standard orders in Schedule 3;
“the principles of simple procedure” means the principles in rule 1.2;
“trading name” means the trading or descriptive name of a person, partnership, limited liability partnership or company;
“Vulnerable Witness Application” means a vulnerable witness application under section 12(6) of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004(25).
(2) In Part 2 of the Simple Procedure Rules, “other legislation” means any enactment which entitles a person to act as a lay representative in a simple procedure case.
(3) In Part 11 of the Simple Procedure Rules, “supporter” means a supporter within the meaning of section 22(1) of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004(26).
(4) In Part 17 of the Simple Procedure Rules, “initial writ”, “intimate”, “defences”, “options hearing” and “lodging” have the meaning they have in the Ordinary Cause Rules 1993(27).
4.—(1) In the Simple Procedure Rules—
(a)a claim being registered—
(i)is warrant for the service of the Claim Form on the respondent;
(ii)is warrant for the citation of witnesses;
(b)a Response Form being registered is warrant for the citation of witnesses;
(c)a certified copy of a written order granting a provisional order is sufficient authority for execution of the diligence specified in the provisional order;
(d)in Part 11, a sheriff ordering a witness to be brought to court—
(i)is warrant for the apprehension of that witness and for having that witness brought to court,
(ii)that warrant is effective in all sheriffdoms without endorsation, and
(iii)the expenses of that warrant may be awarded against the witness.
(2) In a claim for delivery in a simple procedure case, the court may—
(a)grant warrant to search for and take possession of goods and to open shut and lockfast places, and
(b)that warrant only applies to premises occupied by the respondent.
5.—(1) This paragraph applies to a simple procedure case where the claimant has used an arrestment to found jurisdiction before the Claim Form is formally served on the respondent.
(2) The service of the arrestment must be reported to the sheriff clerk as soon as possible.
(3) The arrestment ceases to have effect unless the Claim Form is formally served on the respondent within 21 days from the date of formal service of the arrestment.
CJM SUTHERLAND
Lord President
I.P.D.
Edinburgh
9th June 2016