Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Table of Statutes
- Table of Orders, Rules and Regulations
- Table of Cases
- 1 Law Society of Scotland Rules and Guidance on Fees
- 2 Pre-Action Protocols
- 3 Qualified One-Way Cost Shifting
- 4 Success Fee Agreements
- 5 Certification of Skilled Persons
- 6 Conduct and Expenses
- 7 Sanction for Counsel in the Sheriff Court
- 8 Party Litigants
- 9 Amendment of Pleadings
- 10 Caution, Consignation and Other Security
- 11 Expenses of Commissions
- 12 Pursuers’ Offers
- 13 Tenders
- 14 Abandonment
- 15 Interest on Expenses
- 16 Employment Cases
- 17 Group Proceedings
- 18 Family Proceedings
- 19 Interim Awards of Expenses
- 20 Additional Fees and Charges
- 21 Taxation of Expenses
- 22 Taxation Procedure
- 23 Practical Example of Judicial Account
- 24 Vexatious Litigant Orders
- 25 Simple Procedure
- 26 Miscellaneous Expenses Issues
- Appendices
- Index
12 - Pursuers’ Offers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 June 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Table of Statutes
- Table of Orders, Rules and Regulations
- Table of Cases
- 1 Law Society of Scotland Rules and Guidance on Fees
- 2 Pre-Action Protocols
- 3 Qualified One-Way Cost Shifting
- 4 Success Fee Agreements
- 5 Certification of Skilled Persons
- 6 Conduct and Expenses
- 7 Sanction for Counsel in the Sheriff Court
- 8 Party Litigants
- 9 Amendment of Pleadings
- 10 Caution, Consignation and Other Security
- 11 Expenses of Commissions
- 12 Pursuers’ Offers
- 13 Tenders
- 14 Abandonment
- 15 Interest on Expenses
- 16 Employment Cases
- 17 Group Proceedings
- 18 Family Proceedings
- 19 Interim Awards of Expenses
- 20 Additional Fees and Charges
- 21 Taxation of Expenses
- 22 Taxation Procedure
- 23 Practical Example of Judicial Account
- 24 Vexatious Litigant Orders
- 25 Simple Procedure
- 26 Miscellaneous Expenses Issues
- Appendices
- Index
Summary
On 3 April 2017 the Act of Sederunt (Rules of the Court of Session 1994 and Ordinary Cause Rules 1993 Amendment) (Pursuers’ Offers) 2017 came into force. This saw the reintroduction of pursuers offers into the rules of the Court of Session and Sheriff Court as a means of allowing a pursuer to make an offer to settle a claim in most types of actions that have a conclusion or crave for money, the exception being conclusions or craves that can only be granted after hearing evidence.
Pursuers’ offers had been previously introduced back in 1996 but were quickly revoked after the then formulation of the rules was declared ultra vires in the case of Taylor v Marshall’s Food Group Ltd (No. 2). Notwithstanding the difficulties encountered at that time, the Gill Review in 2009 recommended their reintroduction to provide pursuers with a mechanism of making a settlement offer that has potential financial consequences if not accepted. The aim is to put pursuers on a level playing field with defenders who have the ability to tender.
The 2017 Act of Sederunt creates Act of Sederunt (Rules of the Court of Session 1994) 1994 (RCS) r. 34A and Act of Sederunt (Sheriff Court Ordinary Cause Rules) 1993 (OCR) r. 27A to regulate the procedure in the Court of Session and sheriff court respectively. The rules are virtually identical. RCS r. 34A provides:
Interpretation of this Chapter
In this Chapter—
“appropriate date” means the date by which a pursuer’s offer could reasonably have been accepted;
“fees” means fees of solicitors, and includes any additional fee;
“pursuer’s offer” means an offer by a pursuer to settle a claim against a defender made in accordance with this Chapter;
“relevant period” means the period from the appropriate date to the date of acceptance of the pursuer’s offer or, as the case may be, to the date on which judgment was given, or on which the verdict was applied.
Pursuers’ offers
(1) A pursuer’s offer may be made in any cause where the summons includes a conclusion for an order for payment of a sum or sums of money, other than an order—
(a) which the court may not make without evidence; or
(b) the making of which is dependent on the making of another order which the court may not make without evidence.
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- ExpensesA Civil Practitioner's Handbook, pp. 85 - 89Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2022