What to expect in the Court of Session as Hearts and Partick Thistle take on the SPFL

The Court of Session will hear Hearts and Partick's case against the SPFL.

Friction between Scotland’s football clubs and the league’s governing body reaches unprecedented levels tomorrow in Edinburgh’s Court of Session.

When The Honourable Lord Alistair Clark QC opens Hearts and Partick Thistle’s case against the Scottish Professional Football League at 11am, it will merely intensify the anarchy ravaging the sport since coronavirus forced it into shutdown in March.

Never in the modern era have Scottish clubs brought a civil court action against their own league, but never have fixtures within that league been prematurely ended following a global health pandemic.

Suing the SPFL over enforced relegations from the Premiership and Championship respectively was not a decision Hearts or Thistle took lightly. Yet they feel it is their only choice in the pursuit of justice.

The eventual outcome is unpredictable. Both clubs petitioned the court to overrule relegations or they want £10million in compensation – £8m for Hearts and £2m for Partick.

They feel the unique circumstances created by the virus should mean a different outcome, principally that no club be punished without all league matches fulfilled.

The SPFL argue that they acted legally. In April, their board proposed ending the 2019/20 campaign early based on average points per game and more than 80 per cent of their member clubs voted in favour.

That condemned Hearts, Thistle and Stranraer to relegation, whilst Celtic were named title winners, plus Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers were all promoted.

Publishing details of the vote before it was completed, whilst an unfathomable move, is something the SPFL directors believe was legitimate. They feel likewise about allowing Dundee to change their initial ‘no’ vote to a ‘yes’, thereby passing the proposal.

Tomorrow, Lord Clark will receive initial submissions from the two clubs and the SPFL before deciding how the case should proceed. The court will sit online using webex video conferencing as the virus continues to affect daily operations in all industries.

Media can connect to the proceedings live and public access is by audio only. A link for that is available on the Court of Session website.

For the average terracing football supporter, this is very much unchartered territory. Many are wondering what to expect and what the process actually entails.

Lord Clark will hear the Edinburgh-based law firm Gilson Gray present the case on behalf of Hearts and Partick. The SPFL’s defence will be conducted through another Capital legal team at Shepherd and Wedderburn.

Being a civil action, the purpose of the initial hearing is to take stock of the dispute and choose the best means of resolving it. Some of the detail in tomorrow’s case is already known but more is likely to emerge.

During the preliminary stages, the judge often takes an active part in the discussions in what is a relatively informal setting.

A judge’s intervention can help lead to an early settlement between parties, or at least contribute to resolving a key single issue within the case. It is intended to speed up the process as all concerned are encouraged to deal with matters without undue elaboration.

In keeping with the informal atmosphere, neither the judge nor the lawyers are expected to wear formal court dress.

An order will usually be made for pursuers and defendants to meet and try to resolve the dispute in some way. That could lead to an out-of-court settlement, which is frequently how civil court actions are concluded.

If Hearts and Partick’s case against the SPFL progresses to a full hearing, it will be conducted in a more formal manner. There will be detailed legal arguments and possible evidence from key figures involved. The court’s priority is to deal with the matter as efficiently as possible.

An out-of-court settlement could present the SPFL with a problem if it involved a hefty financial payout. Chief executive Neil Doncaster has stated publicly that the governing body do not hold massive cash reserves and therefore clubs themselves would need to foot any bill.

Were Hearts and Thistle’s complaint to be upheld in the end, then they and Stranraer would be reinstated to the leagues they occupied last season – Premiership, Championship and League One respectively.

At the same time, Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers would be sent back down and denied the chance to play in the divisions above next season.

Hearts and Partick say they reserve the right to apply for an interdict to stop the 2020/21 campaign kicking off on August 1 as scheduled, but so far they have not taken that step.

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