The Bill will modernise the organisation and leadership of Scotland's judiciary, giving them greater authority over the Scottish Court Service. The Bill will also put the arrangements for the Judicial Appointments Board on a statutory footing.
It will:
- Create a unified judiciary presided over by a Lord President with responsibilities and powers concerning the disposal of business in both the inferior and superior courts and the training, welfare, deployment and conduct of the judiciary
- Introduce revised governance arrangements for the Scottish Court Service centred on a statutory board, chaired by the Lord President
- Provide a statutory basis for the Judicial Appointments Board
- Introduce revised arrangements for the removal of judges and sheriffs
- Introduce a scheme to deal with issues of judicial conduct
- Introduce arrangements for the appointment of retired and temporary judicial office holders
- Expand the grounds of eligibility for appointment as a judge of the Court of Session
Proposals to reform the arrangements for Scotland's judiciary were first consulted upon in the paper Strengthening Judicial Independence in a Modern Scotland, published in February 2006. Plans for the creation of a unified judiciary and the related broader reforms were refined in light of the 2006 consultation, and were set out for further comment in the second part of the white paper Proposals for a Judiciary (Scotland) Bill in February 2007. Consultation ended on May 14, 2007. Twenty six responses were received and the results taken into account as the policies were finalised.