Civil justice statistics in Scotland: 2011-2012

13. Definitions

13.1 General descriptions of court processes and terminology used are given throughout this bulletin. This chapter contains broad definitions which have not been given elsewhere.

13.2 Given the complex nature of the civil justice system, all descriptions and definitions given are necessarily general in nature. They are intended to provide sufficient information to allow readers to understand the content of this bulletin but they are not official explanations and should only be used in the context of this bulletin.

13.3 A single case can involve a number of different case types. The case type which is listed first on the writ / summons is commonly known as the 'principal crave', with the others being commonly described as 'ancillary craves'. All the tables in this bulletin show the case type of the 'principal crave' only - information on 'ancillary craves' is not included.

13.4 The following definitions describe the case types used in this publication. References to legislation have been provided where this helps to clarify the case type.

Aliment
Support or maintenance of a spouse / civil partner or child.

Child Abduction
Child abducted outside the UK and brought into Scotland.

Child in Place of Safety
Warrant to continue keeping a child in a place of safety.Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s67.

Children's Hearings - Appeal
Appeal against the decision of a children's hearing. Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s51(1).

Children's Hearings - Referral
Refer to the sheriff for a decision when the grounds for a children's hearing are denied or not understood by the child or relevant person. Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s65(7).

Civil Non-Harassment Order
Restrain the conduct of a person. Protection from Harassment Act 1997 s8 and Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011 s8A.

Commercial
Actions arising out of, or concerned with, any transaction or dispute of a commercial or business nature which are carried out under specific commercial procedure.

Company
Actions relating to companies and how they operate, including liquidations.

Damages
Payment of money to compensate for non-personal loss or injury.

Debt
Payment of money, excluding Damages and Personal Injury.

Decree Dative
Appointment of a person to administer the estate of a deceased person.

Delivery
Delivery of moveable goods or property. An alternative crave for payment is sometimes included in the event the goods or property are not returned.

Exclusion Order - Child's Home
Local authority application to exclude a person from a child's home. Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s76.

Exclusion Order - Matrimonial
Suspend the right of a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant to occupy the matrimonial home.
Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 s4.

Implement
Fulfil an obligation or duty.

Intellectual Property
Infringement of copyright, patents, trademarks, etc.

Interdict
Prevent a particular action being carried out, excluding Family Interdicts.

Judicial Review
A remedy whereby the Court of Session may review and if necessary alter the decision of inferior courts, tribunals and other public offices and authorities where no other form of appeal is available.

Land / Heritable
All actions relating to land or immoveable property.

Liquidation
Wind up and dissolve a corporate body.

Nobile Officium
An ancient 'noble office' or power of the Court of Session (and the High Court of Justiciary) which allows the Court to provide a legal remedy where none exists.

Nullity of Marriage / Civil Partnership
Void a marriage / civil partnership.

Parental Responsibilities and Rights
All actions relating to parental responsibilities and rights under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s11.

Parental Responsibilities and Rights - Contact
Regulate the arrangements for maintaining personal relations between a child under 16 and a person with whom the child is not living. Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s11(2)(d).

Parental Responsibilities and Rights - Residence
Regulate the arrangements as to with whom a child under 16 is to live. Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s11(2)(c).

Parental Responsibilities and Rights - Other
Other actions relating to parental responsibilities and rights under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s11, excluding contact and residence.

Permanence Order With Authority to Adopt
Vest parental rights for a child in an adoption agency, permitting the placement of the child for adoption in advance of the adoption order.Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 s80. Permanence orders with authority to adopt replaced adoption freeing orders from September 2009. Any adoption freeing orders initiated before this date but disposed during 2010-11 are included in the figures for permanence orders with authority to adopt.

Personal Injury - Asbestos - Live Mesothelioma
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the cells that make up the lining around the outside of the lungs and inside of the ribs, or around the abdominal organs. A mesothelioma sufferer (or someone with a Power of Attorney for a mesothelioma sufferer) is the pursuer.

Personal Injury - Asbestos - Post Mesothelioma
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the cells that make up the lining around the outside of the lungs and inside of the ribs, or around the abdominal organs. A mesothelioma sufferer's relative or executor is the pursuer and the sufferer has died and did not initiate court action themselves.

Personal Injury - Asbestos - Pleural Plaques
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury relating to asbestos-related pleural plaques - scarring of the membranes around the lungs.

Personal Injury - Asbestos - Pleural Thickening
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury relating to asbestos-related pleural thickening. Pleural thickening can cause breathlessness, asbestosis of the lungs, lung cancer and mesothelioma.

Personal Injury - Asbestos - Other
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury relating to other asbestos-related illnesses.

Personal Injury - Clinical Negligence
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury relating to clinical negligence.

Personal Injury - Relative's Claim
Payment of money to compensate for personal loss or injury to a relative of someone who has died.

Personal Injury - Other
Payment of money to compensate for other personal loss or injury.

Repossession - Mortgage / Loan
Repossess a property in breach / default of a mortgage or loan secured on the property. These cases can be initiated under ordinary cause or summary application procedure. Following the introduction of the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010 on 30 September 2010, all repossession cases relating to mortgages or loans secured on residential property are to be raised as summary applications. Previously, nearly all court actions of this type were made under ordinary cause procedure.

Repossession - Non-Mortgage / Loan
Repossess a building or land which is being occupied by someone other than the owner, excluding mortgage / loan repossessions. The pursuer is the owner and it is often, but not always, used to remove tenants who have not paid their rent.

Succession
Determine the rights of inheritance to a deceased person's estate.

Summary Warrant
Authorise the steps to be taken to ensure the recovery of money owed by one or more debtors to certain public creditors.

Suspension
Suspend a charge.

Trusts
Actions relating to the creation and administration of trusts.

13.5 The following definitions describe the disposal types used in this publication.

Appeals / Reclaiming Motions

Abandoned
The appeal is abandoned and the original judgment stands.

Adhered
The original judgment is adhered to.

Allowed
The appeal is allowed and the original judgment is altered or reversed.

Dismissed
The appeal is not allowed and the original judgment is adhered to.

Recalled
The original judgment is recalled.

Refused
The appeal is refused and the original judgment is adhered to.

Varied
The original judgment is varied.

Other

Absolvitor
An order granted in favour of the defender which prevents the pursuer from bringing the same matter to court again.

Defended / Undefended
A case is defended if the defender lodges a notice of intention to defend or appear, or lodges answers. If the defender does not subsequently defend the case the final disposal is still marked as defended. Decree can be awarded in favour of the defender even if the case is not defended. For example, the parties could settle out of court and ask for the case to be dismissed before the defender lodges a notice of intention to defend. This would be recorded in the statistics as 'Dismissed, Undefended'.

Dismissed (excluding Appeals / Reclaiming Motions)
Decree is granted in favour of the defender. The pursuer can raise further court action in relation to the same matter.

Dropped From Roll
The application is dropped from the roll. The pursuer can lodge a motion to recall the case. This usually occurs when the pursuer fails to return the application to court for the initial hearing date and no party attends.

Expenses Only (Court of Session)
The merits of the case are decided but the court reserves the question of expenses, which is dealt with at a later date. When expenses have been dealt with the case is finally disposed of and the final disposal is recorded as Expenses Only.

Expenses Only (Sheriff Courts)
Expenses are awarded to the pursuer, with the rest of the matter dropped.

For Petitioner / Pursuer / Respondent
Decree is granted in favour of the petitioner / pursuer / respondent.

Granted
Decree is granted in favour of the pursuer.

Opposed / Unopposed (Petition Department)
A petition is opposed if the respondent lodges answers. It cannot be determined from the statistics whether unopposed petitions were awarded in favour of the petitioner, respondent, etc.

Refused (excluding Appeals / Reclaiming Motions)
The case is refused. This could be for a number of reasons, for example on the basis that the case is incompetent, it has no merit, it is not insisted upon, etc.

Withdrawn
The case is withdrawn by the pursuer. This could be for a number of reasons, for example the case is incompetent, it has no merit, the pursuer does not wish to take the matter any further, etc.

13.6 The following miscellaneous definitions are used in this publication.

Ancillary Crave
Any second and subsequent legal remedies requested by the pursuer / petitioner, as stated in the initial writ / summons.

Decree
The order of the judge or sheriff disposing of a case.

Defender / Respondent
The person or body against whom a case is raised.

Disposed
Completion of a case following the issuing of a final judgment.

Initial Writ / Summons
A form of document used to commence some court cases.

Initiated
Registering a case with the court.

Principal Crave
The first legal remedy requested by the pursuer / petitioner, as stated in the initial writ / summons, etc.

Pursuer / Petitioner
The person or body who is raising the court case.

Reclaiming Motion
Appeals from the Outer House of the Court of Session, which are raised in the Inner House.