Practical equivalent of judicial review permission stage in Scotland
<p>Judicial Review claims in England and Wales require a court's permission to proceed to a full hearing (<a href="https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part54#54.4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CPR 54.4</a>).  The idea is to prevent claims with no prospect of success from taking up the court's time and incurring needless expense on the part of the claimant.</p>
<p>In Scotland, there is no permission stage (<a href="https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rules-and-practice/rules-of-court/court-of-session-rules" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Court of Session Rules, Chapter 58</a>).</p>
<p>In practical terms, how does a Scottish court dispose of Judicial Review claims with no prospect of success?  Is there an effective equivalent, or do all claims proceed to a full hearing irrespective of merit?</p>

<p>Your link to Chapter 58 was broken so I don't know if your version was entirely accurate, but a judicial review in <a href="/questions/tagged/scotland" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;scotland&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;scotland&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="scotland-container">scotland</a> <em>does</em> require permission. See <a href="https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/rules-and-practice/rules-of-court/court-of-session-rules" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rule 58.2</a> Court of Session Rules:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>58.2. In this Chapter—</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>“permission” means permission for an application to the supervisory jurisdiction of the court to proceed, as required by section 27B(1) of the Act of 1988</p>
<p>[...]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The cited <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/36/section/27B?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 27B</a> Court of Session Act 1988 states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Requirement for permission</strong></p>
<p>(1)No proceedings may be taken in respect of an application to the supervisory jurisdiction of the Court unless the Court has granted permission for the application to proceed.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And this provision is cross-referenced at <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/10/section/57A?timeline=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 57A</a> Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>(2)It is for the Upper Tribunal to determine—</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<ul>
<li>(b)whether to grant permission for the petition to proceed under section 27B of the Court of Session Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”) (requirement for permission).</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>

civil-law rules-of-court definition scotland judicial-review