{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/act-of-sederunt-small-claim-rules-1988/schedule/paragraph-4",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/act-of-sederunt-small-claim-rules-1988/schedule/paragraph-4.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1988/1976",
  "legislation_title": "Act of Sederunt (Small Claim Rules) 1988",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/act-of-sederunt-small-claim-rules-1988",
  "path": "schedule/paragraph/4",
  "kind": "paragraph",
  "number": "4",
  "heading": "Period of notice",
  "text": "(1) A small claim shall proceed after the appropriate period of notice of the summons has been given to the defender.\n(2) The appropriate period of notice shall be—\n(a) 21 days where the defender is resident or has a place of business within Europe; or\n(b) 42 days where the defender is resident or has a place of business outwith Europe.\n(3) Where a period of notice expires on a Saturday, Sunday, public or local holiday, the period of notice shall be deemed to expire on the first following day on which the sheriff clerk’s office is open for civil court business.\n(4) Where service of a summons is by post, the period of notice shall start to run on the day of posting; and section 4(2) of the Citation Amendment (Scotland) Act 1882 shall not apply.\n(5) The sheriff clerk shall insert in the summons the date which is at the end of the period of notice being the last day on which the defender may return a response form to the sheriff clerk (the return date).",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "1882 c. 77"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/1976/schedule/paragraph/4",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T15:55:02.205881+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}