District Courts of Scotland

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Scots law This article is part of the series: Courts of Scotland

Administration Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice Judicial Appointments Board Scottish Court Service College of Justice Office of the Public Guardian Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission Scottish Prison Service

Civil courts Privy Council House of Lords Court of Session Lord President Lord Justice Clerk Lords of Session Office of the Accountant of Court Sheriff Court Sheriff

Criminal courts High Court of Justiciary Lord Justice-General Lord Justice Clerk Lords Commissioner of Justiciary Sheriff Court Sheriff Principal Sheriff District Court Justice of the Peace

Special courts Court of the Lord Lyon Lord Lyon King of Arms Scottish Children's Reporter Administration Children's Hearings Scottish Land Court Lands Tribunal for Scotland

Criminal justice Lord Advocate Crown Office Advocate Depute Procurator Fiscal

Advocates and solicitors Faculty of Advocates Advocate Law Society of Scotland Solicitor-Advocate Solicitor

A District Court is the lowest level of court in Scotland. It deals mainly with minor offences and they operate under summary procedure.

Contents 1 History 2 Role 3 Glasgow 4 Reform 5 References

[edit] History

District courts were introduced in 1975 and sit in each local authority area under summary procedure only. introduced in 1975 as replacement for Burgh Police Courts (see Burgh); they deal with the most minor crimes. They are run by the local authorities. Each court comprises one or more Justices of the Peace (lay magistrates) who sit alone or in threes with a qualified legal assessor as convener or clerk of court.

[edit] Role

They handle many cases of breach of the peace, drunkenness, minor assaults, petty theft, and offences under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

District Court operate under summary procedure and may not impose a fine in excess of £2,500 or sentence an offender to more than 60 days in prison. In practice, most offences are dealt with by a fine.

[edit] Glasgow

In Glasgow where the volume of business requires the employment of four solicitors as "stipendiary magistrates" who sit in place of the lay Justices. The Stipendiary Magistrates' court has the same sentencing power as the summary Sheriff Court.^[1]

[edit] Reform

The Scottish Government had announced its intention to unify the management of the Sheriff and District courts in Scotland, but retaining lay Justices. The Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 enables the Scottish Ministers to replace District Courts by "Justice of the Peace Courts".^[2]

[edit] References

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