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Judiciary and Courts Bill
25/09/2008
A Bill designed to strengthen the relationships between the legislative, executive and judicial arms of government in Scotland and lead to improvements for all who come into contact with the courts was passed today by the Scottish Parliament.
The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill makes the Lord President head of the Scottish judiciary and will introduce new governance arrangements for the Scottish Court Service, making it independent of the Scottish Government.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
"The Scottish Government is committed to the need for a strong independent judiciary which is fundamental to the rule of law and the impartiality of the courts. The Bill enshrines this in statute.
"There has been lively debate throughout the passage of the Bill and the end result has benefitted from that debate.
"The Bill delivers a strong coherent structure for a modern judiciary and the effective management of our court system. It offers a package of reforms which will strengthen Scotland's judiciary as an institution, and introduces a number of practical reforms to improve the way the system operates.
"Along with the ongoing reforms to our summary justice system including improvements to how the police and courts deal with lower level summary cases, this Bill ensures that Scotland continues to have a justice system fit for the 21st Century."
Eleanor Emberson, Chief Executive of the Scottish Court Service, said:
"I believe that having the Lord President as Chair of the Scottish Court Service governing body gives this organisation fresh impetus and opportunity to improve the service for the benefit of all court users.
"I look forward to working closely with the Lord President to deliver this, in co-operation with all others involved in the administration of justice in the Scottish courts."
The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill builds on previous consultations that began in February 2006, taking forward proposals in the White Paper "Proposals for a Judiciary (Scotland) Bill" published in February 2007.
The main provisions of the bill will:
- guarantee continued judicial independence, in statute
- make the Lord President the head of the Scottish judiciary with overall responsibility for the disposal of business in all courts and for the training, welfare, deployment and conduct of the judiciary
- introduce new governance arrangements for the Scottish Court Service, making it a non-Ministerial Department which will be run by a board with a judicial majority and chaired by the Lord President, placing the Scottish Court Service under a statutory obligation to take account of public and court users' needs;
- place the Judicial Appointments Board on a statutory basis
- standardise the current informal arrangements for dealing with any issue of conduct involving a sheriff or a judge and puts these arrangements on a statutory basis
- standardise the arrangements for considering fitness for office of judges and sheriffs
- bring greater transparency and consistency to the appointment of temporary judges and introduce new arrangements for the deployment of retired judges and sheriffs to fill short-term gaps and ensure the smooth-running of court business
- extend eligibility for appointment as a judge of the Court of Session to those who have practised as solicitor advocates in either the Court of Session or the High Court of Justiciary (removing need to have held rights of audience in both the civil and criminal Supreme courts)