DMBM678270 - Summary Proceedings (Sc): Small claims - answering defences: Defence which is irrelevant to the claim

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If the defender submits a defence that is not related to the claim for example “I am not contributing to expenditure on nuclear weapons” the court is unlikely to accept this as a serious defence.

If asked for your response you should

• advise that you regard the defence as irrelevant to the claim and
• ask that the court grant decree for the full sum plus outlays but
• do not enter into any debate on the merits of the defender’s argument.

If, exceptionally, the court is unwilling to grant decree

• ask them to fix a date for a full hearing (DMBM678060) so that you can take advice from the HMRC Solicitor and
• refer your papers together with a detailed report of the hearing as a matter of urgency to the HMRC Solicitors Office (1st Floor Clarendon House 114-116 George Street Edinburgh EH2 4LH tel. (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)