Step 8: Getting a timetable for the case and serving the claim on the respondent
This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales
This step applies only to Simple Procedure cases. If you have started your case as an Ordinary Cause action, you should already have a solicitor to represent you. They should receive information from the court and will be able to advise you of the next steps.
Once your Simple Procedure claim is registered you’ll get a timetable for your case and details of how to track it online. The timetable tells you the last date that you have to serve the claim on the respondent and the deadline they have to respond to your claim.
To meet the deadline for taking legal action for compensation for discrimination you need to have submitted a claim to the sheriff court and had the claim ‘served’ on the other side within 6 months less 1 day from the date you were discriminated against. If you’re not sure how to work out the deadline that applies to your case, check Step 1.
The deadline on the timetable for serving the claim form on the respondent may be different to the legal deadline you worked out in step 1 - make sure the claim is served on the respondent by whichever of the two dates is earliest.
‘Service’ is a formal legal process where the respondent is sent a copy of the claim form by a legal agent, such as a solicitor or sheriff officer. It’s usually delivered by recorded delivery or in person. If this doesn’t happen your claim won’t go ahead and you may run out of time to bring your discrimination claim in time.
You may have asked the court to arrange service for you on the claim form or if you have a lawyer they will normally organise this for you. Otherwise you’ll need to organise it yourself by getting a sheriff officer to do this. The court may have details of local sheriff officers you can use - you’ll need to pay the sheriff officer a fee. Then a Confirmation of Formal Service must be sent to the court. The rules about formal service are in Part 18 of the Simple Procedure rules.
If you want to amend the timetable, for example because you have been ill, you can ask the Sheriff to change the timings by sending the court a change of timetable application. You can do this using Civil online or by using the form on the Scottish Courts website.