DIRECTORATE FOR JUSTICE
DJUST : Civil Law and Legal System
abcd
Peter McNab
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Reference: 202100167640
Your Reference: Why is a Sheriff permitted to block a Party Litigant from Appealing a Legal Decision?
23 March 2021
Dear Mr McNab,
REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 (FOISA)
Thank you for your request dated 1 March 2021 under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
(FOISA).
Your request
You asked: "[W]hich particular legislation gives a sheriff the right to conduct self-regulation here in
Scotland?"
Response to your request
Al the information you have requested is available in the Scottish Civil Court Rules which can be
accessed on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) website at Sheriff Court - Civil
Procedure Rules (scotcourts.gov.uk). In particular, you may wish to consider the Ordinary Cause Rules
chapter 31 - Appeals. You do not state what kind of action you were involved in. However, you wil note
that there are rules relating to the case management of various types of cases in the Ordinary Case
Rules. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already
reasonably accessible to you.
You should note that your request is for legal advice and I regret that the Scottish Government is not
able to provide such advice. You may wish to consult a lawyer to assist with the information you
Scottish Ministers, special advisers and the Permanent Secretary are covered by the terms of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016. See
www.lobbying.scot
St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG
www.gov.scot
require.
Your right to request a review
If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal
review of the response, by writing to Neil Rennick, Director of Justice, Room GW02, St Andrew's
House, Regent Road, Edinburgh , EH1 3DG. Your review request should explain why you are
dissatisfied with this response, and should be made within 40 working days from the date when you
received this letter. We wil complete the review in accordance with FOISA as soon as possible, and
not later than 20 working days from the day fol owing the date we receive your review request.
If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Scottish
Information Commissioner. More detailed information on your appeal rights is available on the
Commissioner's website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Unhappywiththeresponse
/AppealingtoCommissioner.aspx.
Yours sincerely
Michael Green
CLLS : Courts and Tribunals
Scottish Ministers, special advisers and the Permanent Secretary are covered by the terms of the Lobbying (Scotland) Act 2016. See
www.lobbying.scot
St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG
www.gov.scot