District court (Scotland)

{{Infobox court

|court_name = District courts of Scotland

|native_name =

|image = Flag of Scotland.svg

|imagesize = 110px

|established = 1975

|dissolved = 2010

|positions = Bench of either three lay justices of the peace, or one stipendiary magistrate

|caption = Flag of Scotland

|jurisdiction = districts of Scotland

|type = Appointed by Commission of the Peace for each district

|authority = [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1975/20/contents District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975]

|appealsto = High Court of Justiciary

|terms = not specified

|website =

}}

A district court was the least authoritative type of criminal court of Scotland. The courts operated under summary procedure and dealt primarily with minor criminal offences. The district courts were administered by the district councils established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Following the passage of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 by the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Ministers abolished the district courts and transferred their functions to the justice of the peace courts, which are administered by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and subject to the authority of the Lord President of the Court of Session.

History

= Establishment =

District courts were introduced in 1975 by the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975, as part of the local government reorganisation process as a replacement for burgh police courts and sat in each local authority area under summary procedure only.{{Cite legislation UK|act=District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975|chapter=20|type=act|year=1975}} The district courts were administered by the district council within whose jurisdiction it operated; the district councils were established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.{{Cite legislation UK|act=Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973|chapter=65|type=act|year=1973}} Each court comprised one or more justices of the peace — lay magistrates appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and later the Scottish Government — who sat singly or in threes; a qualified legal assessor acted as clerk of court.Review of the Summary Justice System: {{cite web| title=The Summary Justice Review Committee: Report to Ministers | url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/03/19042/34181 | publisher=Scottish Government | accessdate=2010-08-09| date=2004-03-16 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/DistrictCourts/|title=About District Courts|date=4 August 2008|publisher=City of Glasgow Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040804042317/http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/DistrictCourts/|archive-date=4 August 2004|url-status=|access-date=20 May 2017}}

=Abolition=

The district courts was abolished in a rolling programme between 10 March 2008 and 22 February 2010, following the passage of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 by the Scottish Parliament. The 2007 Act enabled the Scottish Ministers to replace district courts by "justice of the peace courts"."The Scottish Ministers may by order establish courts of summary criminal jurisdiction to be known as justice of the peace courts." {{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2007/asp_20070006_en_10#pt4|title=Section 59(1) of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 6)|publisher=Office of Public Sector Information|accessdate=2007-11-27}} This allowed the Scottish Government to unify the administration of the sheriff courts and district courts in Scotland, but retaining lay justices of the peace. The new justice of the peace courts are managed by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and are organised by sheriffdom.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/the-courts/jp-court/about-jp-courts|title=About Justice of the Peace Courts|last=|first=|date=|website=www.scotcourts.gov.uk|publisher=Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service|access-date=20 May 2017}} Responsibility for the Courts was transferred from the local authorities in a rolling programme of court unification that concluded in February 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.scot/SPICeResources/Research%20briefings%20and%20fact%20sheets/SB11-59.pdf|title=SPICe Briefing {{!}} The Scottish Criminal Justice System: The Criminal Courts|last=McCallum|first=Frazer|date=24 August 2011|website=parliament.scot|publisher=Scottish Parliament Information Centre|page=5|access-date=20 May 2017|quote=Justice of the peace courts were created by the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007, replacing the former district courts (administered by local authorities) on a sheriffdom by sheriffdom basis between 2008 and 2010.}}

The district courts were replaced by justice of the peace courts by a series of Scottish statutory instruments as follows:

Sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders, 10 March 2008{{Cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/03/04141729/1|title=JD Circular No: JD/1/2008: The Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (Commencement No. 3 and Savings) Order 2008|last=|first=|date=25 February 2008|website=www.gov.scot|publisher=Scottish Government|language=en-gb|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=5 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705122304/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/03/04141729/1|url-status=dead}}
Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highlands and Islands, 2 June 2008{{Cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/06/03113442/1|title=Criminal Justice Directorate Circular No: JD/5/2008: The Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (Commencement No. 4) Order 2008|last=|first=|date=29 May 2008|website=www.gov.scot|publisher=Scottish Government|language=en-gb|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=5 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705140629/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/06/03113442/1|url-status=dead}}
Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin, 8 December 2008{{Cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/11/27154900/1|title=Criminal Justice Directorate Circular JD/9/2008 The Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2008.|last=|first=|date=24 November 2008|website=www.gov.scot|publisher=Scottish Government|language=en-gb|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=5 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705131956/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/11/27154900/1|url-status=dead}}
Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife, 23 February 2009{{Cite web|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/02/23February2009|title=JD Circular No. JD/2/2009 The Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform)(Scotland) Act 2007 (Commencement No. 6) Order 2008|last=|first=|date=10 February 2009|website=www.gov.scot|publisher=Scottish Government|language=en-gb|publication-date=23 February 2009|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=5 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705111001/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2009/02/23February2009|url-status=dead}}
Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde, 14 December 2009{{cite legislation Scotland|type=ssi|year=2009|number=331|ssi=The Justice of the Peace Courts (Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde) etc. Order 2009}}
Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries & Galloway, 22 February 2010{{cite legislation Scotland|type=ssi|year=2009|number=332|ssi=The Justice of the Peace Courts (Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway) etc. Order 2009}}

Remit and jurisdiction

They handled many cases of breach of the peace, minor assaults, petty theft, and offences under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. However, they could handle any offence that could competently be dealt with under summary procedure. Their sentencing powers of lay justices were limited to a fine in excess of £2,500 or imprisonment of up to 60 days. In practice, most offences were dealt with by a fine.A history of Justices of the Peace: {{cite web|title=District Court and JP Court: Past, present and future |url=http://www.scottishjustices.org/index/cms-filesystem-action/resourcespublic/district_courts_ajmyoung.pdf |publisher=Scottish Justices Association |accessdate=2010-08-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728004515/http://www.scottishjustices.org/index/cms-filesystem-action/resourcespublic/district_courts_ajmyoung.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-28 }}

=Stipendary magistrates=

In Glasgow, the volume of business required the employment of four solicitors as stipendiary magistrates who sit in place of the lay justices. The stipendiary magistrates' court remained under the new JP court system, and had the same sentencing power as the summary sheriff court.{{cite web|url=http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/DistrictCourts/|title=Justice of the Peace Courts|publisher=Glasgow City Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202063340/http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/DistrictCourts/|archive-date=2 December 2010|url-status=|accessdate=10 May 2017}} The office of stipendiary magistrate was abolished following the passage of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, and replaced with the new office of summary sheriff.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/39/0/Summary-Sheriffs|title=Summary Sheriffs|date=2017|website=www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk|publisher=Judicial Office for Scotland|language=en|quote=The 2014 Act also abolished the office of stipendiary magistrate...Part-time stipendiary magistrates will become part-time summary sheriffs from 1 April: J Kevin Duffy, Colin Dunipace, J Euan Edment, Sukhwinder Gill, David Griffiths, Diana McConnell.|accessdate=2 April 2017|archive-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403111308/http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/39/0/Summary-Sheriffs|url-status=dead}}

References

Category:Courts of Scotland