CITATION AMENDMENT (SCOTLAND) BILL— [BILL 1.]—SECOND READING. (Hansard, 1 March 1871)

§ MR. ANDERSON
, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that its object was to remedy a grievance arising from the present mode of serving summonses in proceedings in civil actions in Scotland. By the Act of the Scottish Parliament of 1540, entitled "The order of summoning of all persons in civil actions," it was enacted that if the officer gave six knocks on the door of the party 1114 cited, and failed to obtain entrance, and then affixed the summons to the gate or door, that was a lawful and sufficient citation. The service was often executed by putting the summons into the keyhole—which was termed a "lock-hole citation"—obviously a mode by which many accidents rendered it very probable that the summons would never reach the person for whom it was intended: indeed, it had become a very common practice in such cases so to arrange matters that there should be somebody not far off at the time who would take the summons out of the keyhole soon after it was put there; so that there was, in reality, no service at all, and the party was sometimes arrested, or had his goods seized, before he knew anything at all of the matter. The Bill abolished this mode of citation, with one exception, which arose out of the necessity of the case. Where the summons or citation was a summons of removal from any house or premises, and the person to be cited could not be found, or refused admission to his place of dwelling, so that he could not be served, a copy of the summons might be affixed to some conspicuous part of the premises from which removal was sought, and an intimation of such affixing was to be sent to the defender's last known place of residence. The abuse of the process was chiefly experienced in respect of the citations issued by the Small Debts Courts. The decrees of these Small Debts Courts were final and without appeal; but, if the decree was given in the absence of the defender, the law provided a process of re-hearing. Unfortunately, however, the re-hearing depended upon such conditions as often rendered it practically impossible to the defender. In the Small Debts Courts of the justices of the peace, before the defender could get a re-hearing, he must consign the whole amount claimed by the pursuer—a thing which a poor man was frequently unable to do. A decree, therefore, even when given in absence, was almost always practically final. A great deal of injustice was thus often inflicted. The class which was affected by this process was a very numerous one, as was shown by the fact that in the Small Debts Courts of the city of Glasgow in one year there were about 40,000 small debt litigations. Another object of the Bill was to provide against the fraudulent concealment of persons 1115 in order to avoid citations in bankruptcy, or to allow a period of prescription to be completed. In that case the Court might order the summons to be advertized in one or more of the local newspapers, and an intimation thereof to be sent to the defender's last known place of address, which should constitute a legal and valid citation.

§ THE LORD ADVOCATE
said, the measure dealt with a very technical legal matter; but as on the back of it there appeared the name not only of the last speaker, but that of the right hon. and learned Member for Glasgow University (Mr. Gordon), he presumed its provisions had received his consideration and approval as a lawyer. He would not therefore oppose its second reading, although he wished to guard himself against being supposed to admit the expediency or the necessity of its provisions. He was not aware of the existence of the great evils mentioned in the Preamble as attending citation. Several of the clauses appeared to him at present to be wholly unnecessary, while others, as they now stood, would require careful consideration in Committee.

§ MR. GORDON
said, a document would be laid on the Table of the House in a few days which would show that certain recommendations, pointing in the direction taken by this Bill, had been made by a Commission with reference to key-hole citation—a practice which had given rise to great injustice, especially taken in connection with the rule of the Justices of the Peace Court, denying the defendant a re-hearing unless he consigned the very sum which might have been wrongfully charged against him. He was not very cognizant of the peculiar forms that prevailed in regard to those small matters of citation in the inferior Courts; but the details of the Bill could, if necessary, be adjusted in Committee; and he had no doubt whatever that its principle ought to be sanctioned by the House.