ACT OF SEDERUNT ANENT PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1925 (15 & 16 GEO. 5. c. 84).
1926 No. 398 (S. 17)
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION
(2) Scotland
ACT OF SEDERUNT ANENT PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1925 (15 & 16 GEO. 5. c. 84).[This Act of Sederunt (S. R. & O. 1926, p. 963) is printed as amended by Acts of Sederunt, dated July 17, 1940 (S. R. & O. 1940 (No. 1435) I, p. 1120); May 13, 1941 (S. R. & O. 1941 (No. 779) I, p. 1102) and October 12, 1943 (S. R. & O. 1943 (No. 1549) I, p. 891).]
Edinburgh, 16th March, 1926.
The Lords of Council and Session, in virtue of the powers conferred by the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925, and considering that in consequence of the making of the Workmen's Compensation (Aircraft) Order, 1924, dated 19th December, 1924,(a) by the Secretary of State, extending the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Acts to employment on aircraft when outside Great Britain, and other reasons, it is necessary to amend the Act of Sederunt anent proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Acts, dated 29th January, 1926. (b) Do hereby repeal the said Act of Sederunt of 29th January, 1926; of new repeal C.A.S., Book ( L, Chapter XIII,(c) and Acts of Sederunt amending the same;(d) and also in lieu and place thereof enact and declare as follows:—
1. Employment or Agent and Counsel.—A party to any arbitration under the Acts may appear in person, or be represented—
(a) by counsel;
(b) by a duly qualified law agent; or
(c) where written authority from him is produced, by a member of his family, or any other person;
but no fee paid to a counsel shall be allowed on taxation, unless the arbitrator has certified that the employment of counsel was proper; and no person other than a counsel (when the appointment of counsel is authorised) or a duly qualified law agent shall be entitled to have any fee or reward for appearing or acting on behalf of any party in an arbitration under the Act; provided always that an arbitrator may, in the case of a workman appearing in person, or a member of his family appearing for him, or in the case of a manager, clerk, or other servant appearing as the representative of an employer, make such allowance in respect of loss of time and travelling expenses as he shall think reasonable.
An application under Section 22 of the Act may in the case of neglect of children by a widow be made by the Procurator-Fiscal of the Sheriff Court or by the Parish Council.
(a) S.R. & O. 1924 No. 1499, p. 695 below.
(b) S.R. & O. 1926 No. 171.
(c) S.R. & O. 1913 (No. 638) p. 2013.
(d) S.R. & O. 1915 (No. 642) I, p. 392 and 1920 (No. 804) I, p. 1142.
2. Application for Arbitration.—An application for the settlement by arbitration of any claim for compensation under the Acts shall not be made unless and until some question has arisen between the parties, and such question has not been settled by agreement. The application shall state concisely the question which has arisen.
3. Parties to Arbitration.—An application for the settlement by arbitration of the amount payable as compensation under the Acts in a case where death has resulted from the accident may be made by the employer, or by the executor or other legal personal representative, if any, of the deceased workman, or by all or any of his dependants. It shall set forth the names of all the dependants and their ages (including those persons who claim to rank as dependants) so far as known to the applicant or applicants, and, where it is presented by or on behalf of some only of the enumerated dependants, the rest of them shall be called as respondents; provided always that if in the course of the proceedings it appears that there are other dependants than those who are parties thereto, the Sheriff may order the petition to be served upon the omitted dependants, and may sist procedure in order to enable him or them to appear.
4. Court where Parties Resident in Different Districts.—Applications under the Act, if the parties reside in different districts, shall be made to the Sheriff Court of the county or district of a county—
(1) in which the accident occurred; or
(1A) In the case of a memorandum sent to be recorded by virtue of section 23 or section 24 of the Act, the Court to which an application for the settlement of any question by arbitration in relation to the accident out of which the arbitration arose has been made or, if there has been no such application, the Court in the district in which the workman or the dependants of the workman by whom or on whose behalf the agreement has been made, or some or one of them, resides or reside;(a) or
(2) in the case of a claim by virtue of Section 43 of-the Act, in which the workman was last employed in the employment to the nature of which the disease was due;(b) or
(3) if the accident arising out of employment on a ship occurred at sea—
(a) in which the ship is at the time when intimation or service of the application is made; provided that such intimation or service is made to or on the master of the ship in the same county or district of a county; or
(b) in which the managing owners of the ship, or some or one of them, or the manager, may reside or have a place of business; or
(c) in which the ship is registered; or
(a) Para. 1A added by S.R. & O. 1940 No. 1435.
(b) See now S.R. & O. 1943 No. 1550, p. 477 below.
(4) If the accident arising out of employment on an aircraft occurred outside Scotland—
(a) in which the owner or a part owner or the manager of the aircraft may reside or have a place of business; or
(b) in which the aircraft is registered, without prejudice to any transfer as hereinafter provided.
5. Transmission to Forum conveniens.—If a sheriff before whom an application under the Act is brought is of opinion that the case can be more conveniently tried and determined in any other Court in Great Britain, he may on the motion of any of the parties make an order remitting the case to such Court, and on such order being made it shall be the duty of the sheriff-clerk to transmit the application with all the relative documents to the sheriff-clerk or registrar of the Court named in the order, and to transfer to such sheriff-clerk or registrar any money invested in connection with such application in his name as sheriff-clerk, and the case shall thereafter proceed in the last-mentioned Court as if it had originated there.
6. Transmission of Money consigned in Post Office Savings Bank.—When any money ordered to be transferred from one Court to another is invested in the Post Office Savings Bank in the name of the sheriff-clerk, such money shall be transferred into the name of the sheriff-clerk or registrar of the Court to which the money is ordered to be transferred, in accordance with regulations to be made by the Postmaster-General with the consent of the Treasury; and where any money ordered to be transferred is not so invested, it shall be transferred to the sheriff-clerk or registrar of the Court to which the money is directed to be transferred.
7. Claim of Indemnity.—Where a claim for compensation under the Act is made against a principal, he may, at the calling of the case, move the Sheriff for authority to serve a copy of the petition, together with a notice of the claim for indemnity, upon any person against whom he intends to claim indemnity, and such person may appear at a diet fixed by the Sheriff. If he does appear he shall thereafter be deemed to be a party to the arbitration, and the question of his liability to indemnify the principal may, if they both consent, be summarily and finally determined therein; provided always that, if he is held in that process not to be liable to indemnify the principal, he shall not be subjected in any part of the claimant's expenses. If he fail to appear he shall not be entitled, in any subsequent proceedings against him at the instance of the principal, to dispute the validity of any award made under the petition, whether the same be made of consent or otherwise.
8. Claims under Section 43 of the Act.—In any claim for compensation under Section 43 of the Act, if the employer alleges that the disease was in fact contracted while the workman was in the employment of some other employer, the Sheriff may grant authority to the employer to serve a copy of the application and of his averment as to the time and place of contracting the disease upon such other employer, and such other employer shall, upon such service, be held to be a party in the arbitration.(a)
(a) See now S.R. & O. 1943 No. 1550, p. 477 below.
9. Incidental Applications.—Applications under Sections 11, 13, 19, 21 (2), 22, 25 (5), 26 (2), or paragraph 10 of the First Schedule to the Act, shall be made by a minute, which shall be lodged in the original process, if any; and if there be no process, a copy of the recorded memorandum, certified by the sheriff-clerk, shall be lodged along with the minute, and shall be held to be the process. If there be no recorded memorandum and no original process the minute may itself be held to be the process. Such minute shall be intimated to the other party or parties interested, and thereafter be disposed of summarily, as if it were an application for settlement by arbitration under the Act. In all the cases referred to in this clause an entry showing how the application is disposed of shall be made by the sheriff-clerk in a register kept for the purpose. All minutes lodged under this section shall state the date and place of the accident, whether or not the case has previously been before any Court, and, if it has, the date of the first award of Court or of the recorded memorandum of agreement, or of any previous reference to a medical referee.(a)
10. Expenses.—The costs of and incident to all proceedings under the Act shall not exceed the limits prescribed by the Act of Sederunt regulating fees of Agents and others in the Sheriff Court, and the regulations and tables of fees therein contained shall, so far as applicable, be held to. apply to such proceedings. It shall be competent to...
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