The Act of Sederunt (Summary Applications, Statutory Applications and Appeals etc. Rules 1999 Amendment) (Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders) 2023 was made by the Court of Session on 01 March 2023 and laid before the Scottish Parliament on 02 March 2023.
This Act of Sederunt provides new court rules for handling applications to the court arising under the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016.
The Primary Legislation aims to reform the system of civil orders available to protect communities from those who may commit sexual offences by replacing Sexual Offences Prevention Orders, Foreign Travel Orders and Sexual Risk Orders under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 with two new court orders – Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders.
As with the previous orders, any application will be initiated by Initial Writ under Chapter 3 of the Summary Application Rules 1999. The primary difference between the old and new regime is that hearings will no longer be mandatory – this will instead only happen where requested by the respondent, Chief Constable of Police Scotland or at the court’s insistence. This has resulted in the creation of new forms 2B and 3B in relation to warrant for citation and citation.
In order to prevent any confusion between orders under the old regime and those brought in under the 2016 Act, Parts 25 and 29 of Chapter 3 of the Summary Application Rules 1999 orders are repealed. Existing orders are however preserved with any existing order which requires variation requiring to follow the procedure under the new regime. The new rules will be situated in Part 54 of the Summary Application Rules 1999.
The new rules come into force on Friday 31 March 2023