Act of Sederunt (Rules of the Court of Session Amendment No. 5) (Miscellaneous) 2013

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Act of Sederunt)

This Act of Sederunt amends the Rules of the Court of Session.

Paragraph 2 amends Chapter 41 (appeals under statute) by inserting Part XI (appeals under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007) and new Rule 41.57 (permission to appeal against decisions of the Upper Tribunal). This change reinstates what is known as the “second appeals test”.

Paragraph 3 inserts new Chapter 104 (Justice and Security Act 2013) in consequence of the coming into force of Part 2 of the Act of 2013. Part 2 makes provision for closed material procedures in proceedings before the Court of Session. It sets out a framework whereby the court can allow, in the interests of national security, elements of a case to be heard in closed, in addition to the open proceedings. The process broadly consists of two stages.

The Secretary of State or any party to the case may make an application to the court to make a declaration that the proceedings are ones in which a closed material application may be made. The court may grant a declaration following an application or of its own motion provided that certain conditions are met.

Once the declaration has been made, a closed material application may then be made by a party to the proceedings not to disclose specific pieces or tranches of material, except to the court, a special advocate and the Secretary of State. An application will be granted where the disclosure of that material would be damaging to the interests of national security.