Claiming for money owed in Scotish Courts

jcarver007

Looking for some advice as I have started a claim against a client who had refused to pay for some work carried out. I thought that the court would contact me by email or post after I had started the process online.

After a while having not received anything I have gone online and logged in to find that the matter had been thrown out  as no application for a decision has been lodged.

A previous document  to this which I also didnt receive  was a Simple Procedure Timetable which mentions:
B. LAST DATE FOR SERVICE ⓘ The last date for service is the date by which the Claim Form must be formally served on the respondent. ⓘ Part 6 of the Simple Procedure Rules is about how formal service can be arranged. 

The process appears to be completely different to the small claim service in England which is completed on line and forms posted out with clear details as to what is needed next.

Does anyone know if I can get this reinstated? And if there was anything else that should have been done other than the claim being started online?

Bookworm105

ask a member of the SNP?

martindow

English courts seem quite helpful on matters of procedure - obviously they won't help advise on the merits of a case.  I would phone the court you are dealing with and ask them how you should proceed from here and whether it is possible to restart your existing case in some way or you will need to start afresh.

Smartun

Does the original contract state that Scottish law exclusively applies? Unless there is exclusivity attached to legal jurisdiction English & Scottish law are interchangeable.

I had a dispute with a Scottish customer where my terms and conditions stated English law applied. Because I did not use exclusively applied the Scottish judge ruled that the matter would be dealt with in the Scottish courts under Scots law. The judge was quite clear, omission of "exclusively under English law" meant that Scottish courts could hear the case.

Logically the same must apply in opposite. Your customer cannot insist you use the Scottish courts as no exclusivity between England or Scotland is present under the contract terms.

Hope that helps

Ps Scottish courts don't like the English much.