The letter heading 

The heading of the pre-action letters isn't appropriate in Scotland as:

  • an ‘action’ is ‘brought’ for judicial review in Scotland, unlike in England and Wales where it is a 'claim' that’s 'issued'
  • the action is brought in the Court of Session (so they’ll need a Scottish advocate)

We suggest you change the heading to:

Proposed  judicial review action to be brought in the Court of Session against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (DWP) by…

The Pre-action Protocol

There isn’t a Pre-action Protocol for judicial review in Scotland, unless it’s an immigration or asylum case. This means the following sentence in the first paragraph of the letter should be deleted:

We write in accordance with the Pre-action Protocol for judicial review.

You should also remove or change any other mention of Pre-action Protocol in the letter.

The respondent

 As it’s ‘respondent’ not ‘defendant’ in Scotland, search for 'defendant' in the letter and change it to 'respondent'.

Grounds for the judicial review

The grounds for judicial review are the same in Scotland, so the ‘legal issues and grounds for judicial review’ sections in the letter can remain the same. The names of the remedies are slightly different in Scotland, but they’re the same in essence, and they’re not named in the letters  – they just outline the action the defendant (respondent) is expected to take.

Alternative dispute resolution

There’s no expectation to attempt alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Scotland, although it's available. Consider deleting the paragraph regarding ADR.

Response time

The response time limit is the same in Scotland, so it's not necessary to change this in the letter.