Simple Procedure Rules Scotland and the Act of Sederunt

Where the Rules Come From

Simple Procedure was established by Section 72 of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. That Act set up the framework — a new court process for civil claims up to £5,000, designed to be accessible, speedy, and informal enough for people without lawyers.

The detailed rules — how cases are managed, which forms to use, time limits for each step — are set out in the Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016, as amended. Acts of Sederunt are secondary legislation made by the Court of Session to regulate court procedure. They carry the force of law.

The 2016 Act of Sederunt has been amended several times since it was introduced. The 2025 Cabot Financial ruling clarified how expenses are assessed in undefended claims; court fees are set by separate fee orders.

Key Rules for Enforcement

If you have won a Simple Procedure case and the debtor has not paid, these are the rules that govern what happens next:

Rule 15.2 — The four-week wait. You cannot start enforcement until four weeks after the Sheriff Clerk sends the Decision Form. This standstill period gives the losing party time to appeal or apply for recall.

Rule 15.3 — Charge for Payment timelines. When you instruct a Sheriff Officer to serve a Charge for Payment, the debtor gets 14 days to pay if they are within the UK. If they are outside the UK or their address is unknown, the window is 28 days.

The recall provisions. A party may apply to recall a dismissal (Form 13B) within two weeks of dismissal. For another decision, a party may apply any time before it is fully implemented; if a Charge or arrestment has been executed, that period ends 14 days after the first such execution. A party who is sent a recall application must not enforce the decision until the sheriff decides whether to recall it.

The alternative decision provisions. If the decision ordered the respondent to deliver something or do something and also alternatively ordered them to pay a sum of money if they did not comply, you can use Form 15B to ask the sheriff to make that alternative payment order. Form 15B cannot add a money alternative that was not in the original decision.

The Standard Forms

Simple Procedure uses a numbered series of standard forms, available from the SCTS website; some applications can also be completed through Civil Online. The ones most relevant to enforcement are:

• Form 13A — the Decision Form (your decree and enforcement warrant)
• Form 13B — Application to Recall a decision made in absence
• Form 15B — Alternative Decision Application (converting a non-monetary order into a money decree)
• Form 16A — Appeal to the Sheriff Appeal Court

These forms are prescribed. Use the official versions unless the circumstances require a form to be varied.

What the Rules Do Not Cover

The Simple Procedure Rules govern the court process itself. Once you have your Decision Form and the four-week wait has passed, the actual mechanics of enforcement — instructing a Sheriff Officer, serving a Charge for Payment, executing diligence against bank accounts or wages — are governed by separate legislation: the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987, the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002, and the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Act 2007.

This is where many people get stuck. The rules that got them through the court case do not explain how to collect the money afterwards.

Finding the Current Rules

The current text of the Act of Sederunt (Simple Procedure) 2016 is published on legislation.gov.uk. The SCTS website provides guidance notes alongside the forms. For the enforcement steps that follow the court process, the enforcement guide covers the complete sequence from Decision Form through to diligence and recovery.

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