BTO Solicitors LLP

This archived Practice Note provided an overview of the position in Scottish civil litigation regarding applicable law, jurisdiction, service of documents and enforcement of judgments following the UK’s exit from the EU (Brexit) and the end of the Implementation Period on 31 December 2020. It also touched on the position in relation to the Lugano Convention and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and summarised the practical implications of Brexit for dispute resolution in Scotland.

This Practice Note offers guidance on funding civil litigation in Scotland. It provides an overview of the background to the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 (sometimes referred to as the Civil Litigation Act 2018 or CL(EGP)(S)A 2018), which implemented many of the recommendations made in the Taylor Report and gives an overview of the funding changes which have been brought into force. It covers speculative actions and success fee arrangements (SFAs); damages based agreements (DBAs); , the funding implications of various other measures in relation to expenses and the funding implications of the new group procedure (permitting class actions for the first time in Scottish civil litigation). Finally, it offers some practical considerations when funding Scottish civil litigation.

This Practice Note offers guidance on the system of judicial expenses in Scotland’s upper and lower courts (the Court of Session and the Sheriff Court) both at first instance and at appeal (in the Inner House of the Court of Session and the Sheriff Appeal Court). In doing so, it covers, among other things: the principles guiding the courts in making awards of expenses; the role of the auditors of court; the process and bases of taxation; modification and disallowance of expenses; the treatment of outlays and additional fees; interaction with the Legal Aid system and speculative actions (CFAs and DBAs); the summary assessment of expenses; extra-judicial expenses; and personal injury claims (QOCS). It also considers some anticipated changes to judicial expenses and taxation.

This Practice Note offers guidance on serving documents in Scottish civil proceedings, including serving documents outside Scotland where the claim is raised in the Court of Session or Sheriff Court. It considers the steps necessary for formal service to initiate court proceedings and the timescales which must be adhered to. It also considers the ways in which failures in service may occur and the problems which may arise from that.