Consultations by the Scottish Civil Justice Council are available here.
Title
Date
Modernising the Signet
Details
The use of a signet ring or seal by the sovereign is an ancient custom, potentially holding the force of law by virtue of its long usage. The use of signeting appeared in Scots law more generally from 1707 onwards following the treaty of union. In the Court of Session that custom has evolved into the current rules requiring every summons lodged to have “passed the signet”. The purpose is to modernise the approach taken by adding an ‘Order for Service’ that will explicitly convey that the Court of Session has granted its authority for a pursuer to serve the related summons on a defender, and where necessary, intimate the summons on any person who intimation is required.
The consultation will be open for twelve weeks. Written responses are invited by 26 February 2025
closes 26/02/2025
Documents
Consultation document and supporting information
Simplified procedures for divorce and dissolution
The Family Law Committee (FLC) of the Council is undertaking this consultation on the draft rules that would be required to extend the ability to use the simplified procedures to potential applicants with children under the age of 16 who have made appropriate arrangements for the welfare of their children.
Feedback on the draft rules supporting that proposed change is sought from members of the public, the parties currently using a simplified procedure or who have done so in the past, the judiciary, the legal profession, court officials, and officials in the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
This consultation will be open for twelve weeks. Written responses are invited by Friday 14 February 2025.
closes 14/02/2025
Online Intimation - to replace the walls of court
As a temporary response to the pandemic the emergency Covid legislation supported a procedural change to using ‘online intimation’ - when the court had directed that advertising was to be included when intimating a civil action. In practice that meant abbreviated notices were uploaded to the SCTS website so that they could be accessed and viewed online. That switch to ‘online intimation’ was part of the plans to modernise the courts, and its introduction was simply accelerated by the pandemic. As that change has been well received by court users the Council has concluded that the ability to use this digital service should now be confirmed as the permanent procedure and this paper seeks feedback on making that change. This public consultation will be open for twelve weeks. Written responses are invited by 31 January 2025.
closes 31/01/2025
Targeted Consultation: Ordinary Procedure Rules
This is a Targeted Consultation to gather initial feedback from selected users; the judiciary, the legal profession, court officials and government officials.
These proposed newOrdinary Procedure Rulesare a key next step in progressing our comprehensive Rules Rewrite. Seeking initial feedback on the general approach we are taking requires a mix of specialist technical expertise along with good practical working experience of the multiple existing rules in use.
closes 30/11/23
Consultation responses
CONSULTATION ANALYSIS - Ordinary Procedure Rules
As part of our annual Work Programme, the Scottish Civil Justice Council has initiated a review of the rules that support the operation of the Inner House. Having obtained some initial operational feedback the Council has prepared draft rules to help communicate the proposed changes that have been proposed to date. Given the technical nature of these particular rules a full Public Consultation would be inappropriate. Instead we have opted for a Targeted Consultation seeking feedback from selected groups that represent the wider judiciary, practitioners and court officials.
Consultation on the mode of attendance at civil court hearings This consultation seeks views on proposed new rules covering the most appropriate mode of attendance at civil hearings in the Court of Session and the sheriff court.
Questionnaire – Review of rules making the use of Civil Online mandatory for Simple Procedure Claims This questionnaire seeks views from court users, including party litigants, solicitors and professional services firms that have used Civil Online and the Application Programme Interface to submit simple procedure claim as a result of the rule change making the use of these systems mandatory for Simple Procedure submissions.
23/02/21
to
13/04/21
Responses to the questionnaire on the mandatory use of Civil Online for submitting a simple procedure case
Consultation on the Case Management of Family and Civil Partnership Actions in the Sheriff Court This consultation seeks views on recommendations to improve how family and civil partnership actions are dealt with in the sheriff court, particularly in order to prevent undue delay in proceedings relating to the welfare of children.
This consultation seeks views on Simple Procedure, the rules and forms for which are contained within the Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016. The Simple Procedure Rules came into force on 28 November 2016.
27/02/18 to 31/05/18
Consultation on the Review of Fees in the Scottish Civil Courts: Fees of solicitors This consultation seeks views and evidence from stakeholders on the table of fees for solicitors’ recoverable under awards of expenses made in the Court of Session, Sheriff Appeal Court and sheriff court.
21/09/17 to
17/11/17
Consultation on draft rules for Protective Expenses Orders This consultation seeks views on draft rules proposing a new procedural model for applications for protective expenses orders.
28/03/17
23/06/17
Consultation on the draft Simple Procedure Rules This consultation seeks views on draft rules of court for simple procedure.
25/11/15 to 02/03/16
Information Gathering Exercise on Pre-Action Protocols This information gathering exercise seeks views on the current use of voluntary pre-action protocols and on the possible introduction of compulsory pre-action protocols.
14/05/14 to 30/06/14
Consultation on Rules on Reporting Restrictions This consultation seeks views on proposed amendments to court rules on reporting restrictions within the Court of Session.
24/07/13 to 02/10/13