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Bill for a modern judicial system
31/01/2008
A Bill to strengthen judges' independence and modernise the administration of Scotland's courts was published today.
The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill gives formal recognition to the Lord President as head of the Scottish judiciary and transfers to the post administrative and other responsibilities currently held by the Scottish Ministers.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill said:
"At the core of any modern justice system is a judiciary that is independent of the legislative and executive branches of government.
"This Bill will strengthen and modernise arrangements for the Scottish judiciary and reform the administration of the courts.
"It will build on existing and on-going reforms, including improvements to how police, fiscals and the courts deal with lower-level 'summary' cases, to improve the experience of the public and practioners within a modern justice system.
"The legislation is one of constitutional significance which considers the relationship between the judiciary and the other branches of government. I look forward to further discussion and debate as it progresses through the Parliament."
The 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.
It includes provisions to:
- 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
- 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)
A consultation paper Strengthening Judicial Independence in a Modern Scotland, was launched in February 2006 by the previous administration. It sought views on a number of proposals to modernise the organisation and leadership of Scotland's judiciary and to reduce the involvement of the Scottish Government in the day to day administration of the system.
Plans for a unified judiciary under a single head and related, broader reforms were refined in light of the 2006 consultation, and outlined in February 2007 in the White Paper, Proposals for a Scotland (Judiciary) Bill.
Support for more radical reform than had been first canvassed in the 2006 consultation came from the senior judiciary, and the proposals have been the subject of close consultation with the judiciary and main stakeholder groups throughout their development.