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After the decision

• Appeal
• Recall
• Decision in absence
• Case dismissed
• Extracted decision

This section outlines what can be done by either party after a decision has been made by a sheriff.

Appeal

Once a decision has been made, the parties have four weeks to appeal the sheriff’s decision. An appeal can only be on a point of law and the parties cannot appeal a decision if they can apply for the decision to be recalled. If any party wants to appeal a decision, they must send a completed appeal form (Form 16A) to the court and all parties involved in the claim within 28 days of receiving the decision form. The sheriff completes an appeal report (Form 16B), which outlines the legal questions which the Sheriff Appeal Court will answer in the appeal.

Recall

Any of the parties in a claim can apply to recall a decision made by a sheriff in five situations by completing an Application to Recall (Form 13B) and sending it to the court. These situations are:

•where the sheriff dismissed a claim because the claimant did not send the court an Application for Decision within two weeks from the last date for a response;
•where the sheriff decided because the respondent did not send the court a ‘response form’ or ‘time to pay application’ by the last date for a response;
•where the sheriff dismissed a claim because the claimant did not attend a discussion or hearing;
•where the sheriff has decided because the respondent did not attend a discussion or hearing;
•where the sheriff dismissed a claim because neither party attended a discussion or hearing.

If the sheriff dismissed the claim, a party can only apply for recall within two weeks of the claim being dismissed.

If the sheriff made a decision (other than dismissal) in the case, a party may apply for recall at any time before the decision of the sheriff has been fully implemented. A party can only apply to have a decision of the sheriff recalled in a case once.

When a respondent completes an Application to Recall, they should outline the reasons for the recall – eg, why they do not appear at the hearing or ‘what the defence to the action will be’. If the sheriff made a decision following an Application for a Decision and the respondent wants to dispute all or part of the claim, the respondent must include a completed Response Form (Form 4A) with the application to recall. The claimant has 10 days to object to the application.

If it is the first Application to Recall by that party, the sheriff sends the parties an order to attend a discussion in court. After this, the sheriff considers whether to recall the decision.

Decision in absence

If the respondent did not attend and was not represented at the hearing, the sheriff can grant a ‘decision in absence’. If the respondent wants to admit the claim and ask for time to pay or deny the claim (or part of the claim) and has a defence, then before any diligence (eg, bank arrestment and wages arrestment) is fully implemented, they can apply to recall the decision (see above). If the respondent has already had diligence fully implemented, they cannot recall the decision.

Case dismissed

If a sheriff dismisses a claim, any party can apply to recall the claim. They have two weeks from the date of the dismissal to lodge the claim. This is done by completing Form 13B. The claimant is more likely to utilise recall in this instance.

Extracted decision

Part 15 of the Simple Procedure Rules deals with how the successful party enforces a decision when it has been extracted. When a decision has been awarded by the sheriff court in favour of the claimant and no recall or appeal has been lodged, then generally the claimant will want to enforce the decision. They must wait 28 days from the date of the decision before they can enforce the decision. After the 28 days, they can serve the respondent with a charge for payment which gives the respondent 14 days to settle the debt before the claimant enforce diligence.