# Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907, Paragraph 33A.36J: Initial Case Management Hearing


(1) At the Initial Case Management Hearing the sheriff must seek to secure the expeditious progress of the cause by ascertaining from the parties the matters in dispute and information about any other matter referred to in paragraph (3).
(2) It is be the duty of the parties to provide the sheriff with sufficient information to enable the sheriff to conduct the hearing as provided for in this rule.
(3) At the Initial Case Management Hearing each party must address the court on—
(a) any matters that are capable of agreement;
(b) the matters that are in dispute between the parties;
(c) any matters of potential complexity or difficulty;
(d) any valuations that are likely to be required;
(e) any skilled witness evidence that is likely to be required and the scope for joint instruction;
(f) whether additional steps require to be taken to give a child an opportunity to express the child’s views;
(g) whether steps require to be taken to investigate any facts or circumstances relating to a child;
(h) the suitability of the action for referral to mediation;
(i) whether special measures will be required for the purposes of taking the evidence of any vulnerable witnesses;
(j) the scope for use of affidavits and other documents in place of oral evidence;
(k) the extent to which the parties have complied with any orders made by the court;
(l) the number and availability of witnesses;
(m) the content, volume and form of productions;
(n) the requirement for access to IT equipment to view productions;
(o) whether sanction is sought for the employment of counsel;
(p) the progress of any legal aid application.
(4) At the Initial Case Management Hearing, the sheriff must fix a date and time for a Full Case Management Hearing which date must be on the first suitable court day occurring—
(a) in cases involving a crave for a section 11 order only, not sooner than 16 weeks and not later than 24 weeks after the last date for the lodging of defences;
(b) in all other cases, not sooner than 20 weeks and not later than 24 weeks after the last date for the lodging of defences.
(5) Following the Initial Case Management Hearing the sheriff clerk must intimate forthwith to the parties in Form G6B—
(a) the last date for lodging a note of the basis for any preliminary pleas;
(b) the last date for adjustment;
(c) the last date for lodging a copy of the record;
(d) the date of the Full Case Management Hearing.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/7/51/schedule/1/paragraph/33A.36J (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/sheriff-courts-scotland-act-1907/schedule-1/paragraph-33A.36J
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.