Court of Session Act 1988

6 Allocation of business etc. by act of sederunt

With a view to securing that causes coming before the Court may be heard and determined with as little delay as is possible, and to the simplifying of procedure and the reduction of expense in causes before the Court, the Court shall, in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 5 of this Act, provide by act of sederunt—

(i) for the classification of the causes brought into the Court according to the manner in which they are initiated, and for the institution of (a) an Ordinary Roll; (b) an Admiralty and Commercial Roll; and (c) a Consistorial Roll; and the assignment to the Consistorial Roll of all consistorial causes and to the Ordinary Roll or to the Admiralty and Commercial Roll of all other causes initiated by summons, according to the subject matter of such causes;

(ii) for the allocation of the causes before the Inner House among the Divisions thereof and of the causes before the Outer House among the Lords Ordinary;

(iii) for enabling the enforcement of a maritime lien over a ship by an action in rem directed against the ship and all persons interested therein without naming them and concluding for the sale of the ship and the application of the proceeds in extinction pro tanto of the lien, and for enabling arrestment of the ship on the dependence of such an action, and for the regulation of the procedure in any such action;

(iv) for enabling the inclusion, in any such action as is mentioned in paragraph (iii) above, of conclusions in personam against the registered owners of the vessel, whether their names are or are not known to the pursuer, and the granting of decree in any such action containing such conclusions against any compearing defender;

(v) for the inclusion in defences to any action of any counter claim arising out of the matters on which the action is based, to the effect of enabling such counter claim to be enforced without a separate action being raised;

(vi) for enabling trustees under any trust deed to obtain the direction of the Court on questions relating to the investment, distribution, management or administration of the trust estate, or the exercise of any power vested in, or the performance of any duty imposed on, the trustees notwithstanding that such direction may affect contingent interests in the trust estate, whether of persons in existence at, or of persons who may be born after, the date of the direction;

(vii) for enabling arrestment ad fundandam jurisdictionem to proceed on a warrant contained in the summons in like manner as arrestment on the dependence of the action.