“CHAPTER 10COURT SITTINGS

Session of the court10.1.

(1)

Except in vacation, the court shall be in session throughout the year and, subject to paragraph (2), shall—

(a)

normally sit on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of each week;

(b)

normally sit between 1000 hours and 1600 hours, with an appropriate adjournment for lunch;

(c)

not sit—

(i)

on a public holiday;

(ii)

on such other days as the Lord President may, in exceptional circumstances, direct.

(2)

The court may sit—

(a)

on a Monday where it is considered desirable to do so;

(b)

on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday where it is desirable to do so to determine a matter of urgency.

(3)

For the purposes of these Rules, a “sitting day” is a day on which the court sits under paragraph (1)(a) or a vacation sitting day.

Vacation10.2.

(1)

During vacation, the court—

(a)

shall normally sit on a vacation sitting day;

(b)

may sit, on days other than vacation sitting days, where it is desirable to do so.

(2)

The court shall not sit on—

(a)

a public holiday;

(b)

such other days as the Lord President may, in exceptional circumstances, direct.

(3)

During vacation, one or more of the judges of the court shall act from time to time as a vacation judge sitting in court or in chambers.

(4)

The vacation judge shall deal with the business of the vacation judge under rule 11.1(1) on such days and at such times as it is desirable to do so.

(5)

A Division of the Inner House may sit during vacation, whether or not on a vacation sitting day, to determine urgent business which cannot competently be determined by the vacation judge.

Holiday dates, periods and vacation sitting days10.3.

In these Rules—

“public holiday” means any of the dates or parts of days in the following table—

Table

2018	2019	2020
Monday 1st January 2018	Tuesday 1st January 2019	Wednesday 1st January 2020
Tuesday 2nd January 2018	Wednesday 2nd January 2019	Thursday 2nd January 2020
Friday 30th March 2018	Monday 15th April 2019	Friday 10th April 2020
Monday 2nd April 2018	Friday 19th April 2019	Monday 13th April 2020
Monday 16th April 2018	Monday 22nd April 2019	Monday 20th April 2020
Monday 7th May 2018	Monday 6th May 2019	Monday 4th May 2020
Monday 21st May 2018	Monday 20th May 2019	Monday 18th May 2020
Monday 17th September 2018	Monday 16th September 2019	Monday 14th September 2020
Monday 3rd December 2018	Monday 2nd December 2019	Monday 30th November 2020
The afternoon of Monday 24th December 2018	The afternoon of Tuesday 24th December 2019	The afternoon of Thursday 24th December 2020
Tuesday 25th December 2018	Wednesday 25th December 2019	Friday 25th December 2020
Wednesday 26th December 2018	Thursday 26th December 2019	Monday 28th December 2020;

“vacation” is any of the periods in the following table beginning with the date in the first column and ending with the date in the corresponding second column—

Table

First column	Second column
Monday 1st January 2018	Friday 5th January 2018
Saturday 24th March 2018	Friday 6th April 2018
Saturday 22nd December 2018	Friday 4th January 2019
Saturday 13th April 2019	Friday 26th April 2019
Saturday 21st December 2019	Friday 3rd January 2020
Saturday 4th April 2020	Friday 17th April 2020
Saturday 19th December 2020	Tuesday 5th January 2021;

“vacation sitting day” means any of the dates in the following table—

Table

2018	2019	2020
Thursday 4th January 2018	Friday 4th January 2019	Wednesday 8th April 2020
Wednesday 28th March 2018	Wednesday 17th April 2019	Wednesday 15th April 2020
Wednesday 4th April 2018	Wednesday 24th April 2019	Wednesday 23rd December 2020
Friday 28th December 2018	Tuesday 31st December 2019	Wednesday 30th December 2020.”.