Scottish Statutory Instrument 2026/253 will change sheriff court procedure in domestic abuse-related housing cases from 5 October 2026. The Act of Sederunt was made on 3 September 2026, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 4 September, and amends the Summary Cause Rules 2002. According to the explanatory note to the instrument, the amendments are made because of section 22 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021. The policy itself was already on the statute book; the 2026 rules supply the forms and decree wording needed to use that ground in day-to-day cases.
The Court of Session made the instrument after approving draft rules submitted by the Scottish Civil Justice Council, using powers under section 104(1) of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. That places the change within court procedure rather than criminal law: it governs how relevant housing cases are framed, lodged and recorded in the sheriff court. For landlords, solicitors, local authority teams and advice services, the date to watch is 5 October 2026. From that point, cases raised under this domestic abuse ground will need to follow the amended Summary Cause Rules 2002. Rule 4.1 is updated so that the summons provisions now refer expressly to the new Forms 3za and 3zb, with matching additions made to Appendix 1.
The first of those forms, Form 3za, applies where a landlord seeks recovery of possession of heritable property from a sole tenant under paragraph 15A of schedule 2 to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. The explanatory note states that this ground concerns a tenant who has engaged in behaviour which is abusive of a partner or ex-partner. The note also explains the policy purpose. It says the claim form is intended to support recovery of possession so that the landlord can grant a new tenancy to the partner or ex-partner who has been subjected to the abusive behaviour, rather than treating the tenancy position as fixed in favour of the abusive sole tenant.
The second new form, Form 3zb, concerns joint tenancies. It provides a prescribed claim form for proceedings to terminate one tenant's interest in a Scottish secure tenancy where that tenant has engaged in abusive behaviour towards a partner or ex-partner and the paragraph 15A ground is relied on. That distinction matters in housing practice. Where a tenancy is held jointly, the court is not being asked to end the whole tenancy as a first step; it is being asked to end the abusive tenant's legal interest. That gives landlords and the court a clearer basis for protecting the remaining tenant's occupation.
The instrument also adds Form 28l, a new form of extract decree for cases brought under this ground. Alongside that insertion, rule 23.6 is amended so that the existing cross-reference to Form 28k is replaced with a reference to Form 28l. Although technical, that adjustment is important to court administration. Once the sheriff has made an order, the extract decree is the formal record of what has been granted. A dedicated form should help ensure that decrees in domestic abuse-related possession and joint tenancy cases are framed consistently.
Taken together, the amendments close a practical gap between the 2021 Act and the sheriff court rules. The new forms do not create a fresh housing ground on their own; they make an existing statutory protection usable within the Summary Cause Rules 2002. The wider effect is on housing security for partners or ex-partners affected by abuse. From 5 October 2026, landlords and representatives will have prescribed summons and decree forms for cases aimed either at removing an abusive sole tenant and granting a new tenancy to the partner or ex-partner affected by the abusive behaviour, or at terminating an abusive joint tenant's interest while preserving the other tenant's position.