Rule 8 Reference to Inner House or Supreme Court

(1)

This rule applies where—

(a)

any reference of a compatibility question is made to the Inner House of the Court of Session under section 35(1) of the 2024 Act; or

(b)

the sheriff is required by the Lord Advocate to refer a compatibility question to the Supreme Court under section 36 of the 2024 Act.

(2)

Where a reference is made in accordance with paragraph (1), the sheriff is to pronounce an interlocutor giving directions about the manner and time in which the reference is to be drafted and adjusted.

(3)

When the reference has been drafted and adjusted in accordance with paragraph (2), the sheriff is to sign the reference.

(4)

The reference must—

(a)

include such matters as are prescribed in schedule 2 of this Act of Sederunt;

(b)

have annexed to it the interlocutor making the reference and any other order of the court in the cause.

(5)

The sheriff clerk must send a copy of the reference by first class recorded delivery post to—

(a)

the parties to the proceedings;

(b)

the relevant authority (if it is not already a party),

and must certify on the back of the principal reference that a copy has been sent and to whom.

(6)

In this rule “first class recorded delivery post” means a postal service which seeks to deliver documents or other things by post no later than the next working day in all or the majority of cases and which provides for the delivery of the document or other thing by post to be recorded.