Commentary on Provisions(1) Money attachment Section 19 – Money attachment when premises are open
60.Subsections (1) and (2) of section 176 of the 2007 Act provides that money attachment cannot be carried out on a Sunday, a public holiday in the area in which the attachment is to be carried out or on any other day designated by rules of court. An attachment must not begin before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. and cannot continue after 8 p.m. if it is in progress. An officer of court can, however, apply to the sheriff for authority to commence a money attachment or to continue to carry it out outwith these times.
61.This section modifies section 176 so these rules are disapplied in relation to premises in which a trade or business is carried on any day and at any time the premises are open (whether to the public generally or not) for the purposes of the trade or business. This would mean, for example, that it would be competent for an officer to execute a money attachment at a nightclub at 1am on a Sunday and to do so without prior approval of the sheriff, providing the nightclub was in fact open at that time. The current restrictions are otherwise retained so, for example, a money attachment could not be executed at a shop at 10pm on a Sunday if the shop was not open at that time.