The Court of Session Consignation (Scotland) Act 1895 made the Accountant of Court custodian for all funds and Bonds for the Court of Session. The Accountant of Court is also responsible for holding unclaimed dividends and unapplied balances lodged relative to liquidation proceedings and judicial factories.
Authority
In terms of a Practice Note issued by the Lord President on 30 May 1996 “all moneys consigned under orders of court, or otherwise, in the name of the Accountant of Court shall be placed on a special deposit account, which will be held solely by The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, North Bridge branch, Edinburgh”. The Practice Note also states that “moneys may be lodged (a) at the branch concerned, (b) at any bank or branch and transferred through the bank’s credit transfer system, or (in exceptional circumstances) (c) with the Account of Court”. In fact the Royal Bank of Scotland will only allow funds to be lodged at their office in Redheughs Avenue, Edinburgh (see procedure below).
Circumstances where funds may require to be consigned
- By direction of an interlocutor of the Court of Session.
- By the Liquidator of a dissolved company in respect of unclaimed dividends and balances.
- By a Judicial Factor in respect of unapplied balances.
- At the discretion of the Accountant of Court.
Procedure
Although the Lord President’s Practice Note states that funds to be consigned may be lodged at any branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank will only allow the special deposit accounts to be opened with The Royal Bank of Scotland Specialist Operations Scotland Corporate Service Centre - see contact details
The cheque sent to the bank should be made payable to “the Accountant of Court”. The person or firm opening the account should write to the Accountant of Court advising that the funds have been lodged and enclose:
- A copy of the relevant court interlocutor (if applicable)
- A note of the beneficiary or a list of the beneficiaries (if applicable) including most recent known addresses
- A cheque for the statutory fee (currently £30) made payable to “Scottish Court Service”.
The bank will issue an opening statement to the Accountant of Court. If the consignation relates to a court interlocutor the Accountant of Court will advise the Deputy Principal Clerk of Session that the funds have been lodged.
Interest on Funds Lodged
The Royal Bank of Scotland pays interest at Bank of England base rate minus 0.13%.
Upliftment of Funds
Where the funds have been lodged in compliance with a direction of the court an application to the court for release of all or part of the funds (including interest if applicable) should be made by motion. The Court of Session will require a tax clearance certificate from the Inland Revenue before the interlocutor authorising upliftment of the funds is issued. (8.1 of the rules of the Court of Session 1994). The interlocutor should state clearly to whom the funds should be released and whether interest is to be included. On production of a certified copy interlocutor the Accountant of Court will uplift the funds from the bank and issue a cheque to the party named in the interlocutor (or someone mandated to act on their behalf) under deduction of the statutory upliftment fee (currently £30). There is no fee charged where the sum uplifted is less that £50. Where the funds have been consigned by a Liquidator or Judicial Factor the funds may be released to a beneficiary (or someone mandated to act on their behalf) under deduction of the statutory upliftment fee (currently £30) on written application to the Accountant of Court. If the entitled party is deceased the amount due may be paid to the executor on production of the Confirmation.