High Court of Justiciary

Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Government in Scotland)

Parliament House in Edinburgh

The High Court of Justiciary is the highest criminal court in Scotland and is part of the College of Justice , which comprised the Supreme Courts of Scotland . The seat of the is in Parliament House in Edinburgh .

history

The Court of Session was founded in 1532 under the Scottish King James V. In 1672 the High Court of Justiciary was founded, which is still the highest criminal court in Scotland. The independence of the legal system was retained even after the Act of Union 1707 , which stipulated in Art. 19, the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary "do after the Union and notwithstanding thereof, remain in all time coming within Scotland."

Current situation

Chairman is the Lord President ( Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General ), since 2015 Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway . He is Scotland's chief judge and is represented by the Lord Justice Clerk , since 2016 Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian .

The judges are appointed by the British monarch on the recommendation of the Scottish First Minister , who in turn submits them on the basis of recommendations from the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland . The term of office of judge ends at the retirement age of 75 years.

literature

• Michael C. Meston, W. David H. Sellar , Lord Cooper : The Scottish Legal Tradition. New enlarged edition. The Saltire Society and The Stair Society, Edinburgh 1991, ISBN 0-85411-045-3 .
• Kenneth Reid, Reinhard Zimmermann (Eds.): A History of Private Law in Scotland. Volume 2: Obligations. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2000, ISBN 0-19-829928-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Enid A. Marschall: General Principles of Scots Law. 7th edition. 1999, pp. 3-16: Chapter 1: Historical Background.
2. ^ About the Court of Session , retrieved from www.scotcourts.gov.uk on May 7, 2019.