Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016

PART 21: Glossary

21.1	What is this Part about?
(1)	This Part contains a guide for litigants, lay representatives and courtroom supporters to the meaning of certain legal words and expressions used in these rules.
	Word or expression	Meaning
	Additional respondent	A person who is not named as a respondent by the claimant in the Claim Form but who enters the case later.
	Admitting a claim	Where the respondent accepts the claim made by the claimant, including the things which the claimant wants from the respondent.
	Appeal	Asking the Sheriff Appeal Court to reverse or vary the decision of a sheriff on a point of law.
	Application	A way for a party to ask the court to do something by sending it and other parties a written application in a special form.
	Arrestment on the dependence	An order freezing the respondent’s funds or good held by a third party (typically money held in a bank account), in advance of the sheriff making a decision in a case.
	Case management discussion	An informal discussion of how a case is progressing, involving the sheriff and the parties.
	Cite a witness	Demand that a witness attend a hearing by an officer of court formally serving a Witness Citation Notice.
	Claim	The things which the claimant wants from the respondent.
	Claimant	The person making a claim.
	Courtroom supporter	A person who may accompany a party in court to provide moral support.
	Decision	The final order which the sheriff makes about the merits of a case, setting out who has been successful.
	Discussion	A discussion of a particular issue (such as an application), involving the sheriff and the parties, which may take place in court.
	Dismissing a claim	An order by the sheriff ending the case without deciding which party has been successful.
	Expenses	The contribution the court can order one party to make towards how much it costs another party to conduct a case.
	Formal service	The formal process of sending a copy of a court document to a party or other person.
	Hearing	An appearance by both parties in court at which witnesses and evidence can be considered and the sheriff will make a decision.
	Last date for a response	The date by which the Respondent must send a Response Form to the court and to the claimant.
	Last date for service	The date by which the Claim Form must be formally served on the respondent.
	Lay representative	A representative who is not a lawyer.
	Legal representative	A representative who is a lawyer.
	Lodge	To deposit documents and other evidence to the sheriff clerk before a hearing, for their use at that hearing.
	Order	A direction given by the sheriff to the parties telling them what they must do or what will happen next in a case.
	Party	A person involved on one side of a simple procedure case – either a claimant or a respondent.
	Pause	Temporarily suspend the progress of a case.
	Portal on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service website	The portal for conducting a simple procedure case at http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/.
	Principles of simple procedure	The 5 principles listed in rule 1.2.
	Provisional order	An order which protects or secures a claimant’s position before a hearing, such as freezing a sum of money in the respondent’s bank account.
	Recall	An order cancelling a decision made by the sheriff.
	Representative	A person who assists a party and speaks on their behalf in court, who may be either a legal representative or a lay representative.
	Respondent	The person a claim is made against.
	Response	The respondent’s reasons why the claim should not be successful.
	Restart	Resuming the progress of a paused case.
	Send	Sending something in a way provided for in Part 6 of the rules.
	Sheriff	The judge who will decide a simple procedure case.
	Sheriff clerk	A court official who provides administrative support to the sheriff.
	Sheriff officer	A court officer who may formally serve court documents.
	Simple procedure case	A claim which is registered by the sheriff clerk.
	Timetable	The dates by which the first two steps that the parties must take in a simple procedure case are to be completed – the last date for service and the last date for a response.
	Time to pay	An order giving the respondent time to pay the claimant in instalments or in a deferred lump sum.
	Trading name	A name under which a person, partnership or company carries out its business.