Small Claims application - Defendent in Scotland, Pursuer in England

[jj45]

Hi,

 

I am considering making a small claim against a company in Scotland however I reside in England and am hoping someone can advise me how to proceed.

 

Background.

I had a financial agreement with a company who is based in Scotland and as far as I am aware do not have an office in England. When this financial agreement was set up I resided in Scotland however I no longer live there but reside in England and this financial agreement came to an end in 2012 and I was resident in England by that time. For reasons I do not wish to divulge I now wish to take this organisation to the small claims court as the usual letters have not resulted in a satisfactory response. Now the problem arises in that the organisation has offices in Scotland yet I live in England.

 

Referring to the English small claims website https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/overview

 

to make a claim through the English courts the organisation needs an English address which as I mentioned above the organisation does not have. So I looked at the Scottish law courts website and on the face of it it looked as though I could make an application to a court in Scotland. Because I do not live in Scotland I thought (by reading through the Scottish law courts website) that I should apply to the court nearest the defendant. To check this is the case I phoned the court and spoke to someone in the small claims court and explained my scenario.

 

Unfortunately this is where I became confused. The person just asked me (words to the effect) 'under which jurisdiction' do I want to make the application. I stated that I did not understand what they meant re-iterating that I do not live in Scotland. They then replied that I would have to pursue the defendant through the English courts to which I countered that the English courts (apparently) will not allow this because this organisation does not have an office in England. At this point I got the impression they were becoming irate with me because I did not understand the phrase 'under which jurisdiction' (again I am para-phrasing somewhat), so they just pointed me to links on the Scottish Law Courts website where I can get in touch with Citizen's Advice etc.

 

So my question is can I make a small claim against this organisation which has offices only in Scotland yet I live in England? which legal system do I use? Unfortunately speaking to the person in the Scottish court I became more confused. I realise that the court cannot give me legal advice but I would have thought they would have been able to clearly state whether they could accept an application for a small claim given the above scenario.

 

Many thanks for your help.

[AndyOrch]

Hi jj45 and welcome to CAG

 

The following links may assist with your query :-

 

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part06/pd_part06b

 

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n510-eng.pdf

 

Regards

 

Andy

[jj45]

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for your reply. Looks like there's a lot of legal-speak I need to try and get to grips with although I still can't get a clear understanding of exactly what jurisdiction is and if and why where I currently reside affects this. I'll try to get to grips with the links you provided.

[maroondevo52]

Hi,

 

The Civil Jurisdiction & Judgements Act 1982 covers jurisdiction issues in relation to court actions.

 

For individuals, jurisdiction is based upon where they are 'domiciled' (their place of residence) there are a few exceptions but these are quite rare.

When a creditor is pursuing an individual for a debt then they should do so at the sheriff court within whose jurisdiction that the debtor resides.

 

To enforce a CCJ in Scotland, the creditor has to register it for enforcement at the Books of Council & Session (Court of Session) which will then give the authority for a Messenger-at Arms (Officer of Court similar to a Sheriff Officer) to serve a Charge for Payment then after 14 days:

serve an earnings arrestment.

bank arrestment;

attachment of possession outwith your home (ie a car provided it is valued in excess of £1,000).

 

Alterntively, a creditor may pursue a creditors sequestration (bankruptcy) at the sheriff court.

 

This link should help.............

 

http://www.govanlc.com/suedinengland.htm