Law in Scotland
Legal professionals
Solicitors
Solicitors are the most numerous of the legal professionals.
There are around 10,000 in Scotland. They can give advice on all
legal matters and represent clients in court. Solicitors are all
members of the Law Society of Scotland, which promotes the
interests of the solicitors' profession and of the public in
relation to the profession.
Solicitor advocates
Solicitors were first granted the right to appear in the highest
courts in Scotland in 1993 and have equal rights to advocates in
them. Solicitors need to pass further tests to obtain these rights
and those who have done so are known as solicitor advocates. Some
have also been granted Queen's Counsel (QC) status.
Only solicitor advocates and advocates are qualified to appear in
the higher courts.
Advocates
Advocates are members of the Scottish Bar. They have a right to
appear in all Scottish courts, though most of their work involves
appearing in the higher courts and giving specialist opinions on
legal matters. Senior advocates are known as Queen's Counsel. All
advocates are members of the
Faculty of Advocates, which is part of the College of
Justice.
Notaries public
Notaries public are solicitors who are required to record
certain transactions and sign specific legal documents.
The courts: civil and criminal
UK Supreme Court
The UK Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional
Reform Act 2005 and opened on 1 October 2009. It has now
replaced the House of Lords as the highest civil appeal court and
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the final court of
appeal on legal issues arising from devolution in Scotland and
Wales, including human rights issues.
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the highest civil court within Scotland.
It has an Outer House, which deals with cases initially before any
appeal, and an Inner House, which deals mainly with appeals. The
principal judge is the Lord President. The court sits only at
Parliament House in Edinburgh.
High Court of Justiciary
The highest criminal court in Scotland is the High Court of
Justiciary, which is headed by the Lord Justice General, who is
also the Lord President. When sitting, judges are known as Lords
Commissioners of Justiciary. The High Court also hears appeals when
it sits as the Court of Criminal Appeal. The High Court sits both
in Edinburgh and around Scotland.
Sheriff court
The lower court in Scotland is the sheriff court. Each
sheriffdom (of which there are six) has a sheriff principal, with
sheriffs sitting in each main town. This court has both civil and
criminal jurisdictions. Appeals in civil cases go either to
the sheriff principal, or the Court of Session, and then to the UK
Supreme Court. Only the most serious criminal matters are outwith
the sheriff's jurisdiction. There is no appeal from sheriff to
sheriff principal in criminal cases - the appeal lies with the
Court of Criminal Appeal.
Justice of the peace/district court
For many years, the court dealing with petty criminal matters
has been the district court. Each local authority district had a
court with a magistrate who was either a lay justice sitting with a
legally qualified assessor or a stipendiary magistrate
who was legally qualified. However, Scotland's district courts
have now become justice of the peace (JP) courts which sit in
sheriff court buildings.
Other courts
- the Court of the Lord Lyon - dealing with matters of
heraldry
- the Scottish Land Court - dealing with disputes between
landlord and tenant, especially in the crofting counties
- the Teind Court - dealing with disputes in respect of teinds or
tithes
- courts of the Church of Scotland, including the general
assembly and kirk sessions
Administrative tribunals
These include:
- the Employment Appeals Tribunal, which hears appeals from
Employment Tribunals also sitting in Scotland
- Immigration Tribunals and the Immigration Appeals Tribunal
- the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, which deals with the discharge
or variation of land obligations and questions of compensation for
compulsory purchase