Act of Sederunt (Sheriff Court Rules) (Miscellaneous Amendments) 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Act of Sederunt)

This Act of Sederunt makes various amendments to the Ordinary Cause Rules; and some minor amendments to other sets of sheriff court rules.

Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 amend the Ordinary Cause Rules in furtherance of the recommendations of the Rt Hon Lord Gill in the Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review, which was published in September 2009.

Paragraph 2 amends existing rule 12.2 and provides new rules in relation to ex tempore judgments.

Paragraph 3 amends the existing rules in relation to summary decree.

Paragraph 4 provides that in family actions where a crave for an order for financial provision is made, the party must lodge Form F13A setting out the statement of assets and liabilities of the parties at the relevant date, as defined by reference to section 10(3) of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985. A similar requirement is introduced for civil partnership actions. The relevant forms are set out in Schedule 1.

Paragraphs 5 to 8 amend the Ordinary Cause Rules so as to include actions for claims under sections 28 and 29 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 in the definition of “family actions” in Chapter 33. Consequential changes are made to the remainder of Chapter 33 and Chapter 33B is repealed. A minor amendment is also made to Chapter 33A.

Paragraph 9 amends references in rules 33A.66 and 33A.70 of the Ordinary Cause Rules to “a child of the family” to ensure that the definition given is consistent with equivalent rules in the Rules of the Court of Session.

Paragraph 10 amends the Ordinary Cause Rules in respect of admiralty actions in the sheriff court. These are largely based on the equivalent rules for the Court of Session, set out in Chapter 46 of the Rules of the Court of Session. The relevant forms are set out in Schedule 2.

Paragraph 11 amends the Summary Cause Rules in consequence of the changes made to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. The relevant form is set out in Schedule 3.

Paragraphs 12 to 14 make minor amendments to the Summary Application Rules, the Act of Sederunt (Child Care and Maintenance Rules) 1997 (S.I. 1997/291) and the Act of Sederunt (Summary Cause Rules Amendment) (Personal Injuries Actions) 2012 (S.S.I. 2012/144) to correct errors. The latter instrument is due to come into force on 1st September 2012 and this instrument comes into force on 1st August 2012. Accordingly, Form 1f is amended so that it is correct at the time that it comes into force on 1st September 2012.

Paragraph 15 contains a transitional and saving provision.

The Act of Sederunt comes into force on 1st August 2012.