An Act of Adjournal is secondary legislation made by the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cour ...

, the supreme

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

court of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, to regulate the proceedings of Scottish courts hearing criminal matters. Now primarily derived from the

Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail o ...

, the original power to create Acts of Adjournal is derived from an

Act of the Parliament of Scotland This is a list of Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. It lists the Acts of Parliament of the old Parliament of Scotland, that was merged with the old Parliament of England to form the Parliament of Great Britain, by the Union with England Act ...

of 1672. Before

promulgation Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...

, Acts of Adjournal are reviewed and may be commented upon by the Criminal Courts Rules Council. Following

Scottish devolution Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers (excluding principally reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish ...

and the establishment of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

, Acts of Adjournal are made as

Scottish Statutory Instrument A Scottish statutory instrument ( gd, Ionnsramaid Reachdail na h-Alba; SSI) is subordinate legislation made by the Scottish Ministers or a regulatory authority in exercise of powers delegated by an Act of the Scottish Parliament. SSIs are the ...

s. Before devolution, Acts were made as United Kingdom

Statutory Instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrumen ...

History

Courts Act 1672

The

Courts Act 1672 A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

(originally ''Act concerning the regulation of the judicatories'') created the High Court of Justiciary by attaching five Lords of Session to the

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

and Lord Justice Clerk. The Act provided that "the judges of that court ..regulate the inferior officers thereof, and order every other thing concerning the said court," a provision which remains in force and which created the distinction between Acts of Adjournal and Acts of Sederunt. In the 19th century, a reforming of the High Court of Justiciary made all Lords of Session ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' Lords Commissioners of Justiciary. That reformation, while now repealed, is replicated by the

, which further provides that the

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...

is to hold the office of Lord Justice General.

Treaty of Union

The Treaty of Union between Scotland and England, which formed the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

, required that the High Court of Justiciary "remain in all time coming, as it is now constituted by the laws of the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland (; , ) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a l ...

." As a result, the Courts Act 1672 continues to be the original source of the Court's authority to regulate. However, in the time since, laws enacted by the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

, the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

, and the

have expanded or elaborated upon the Court's power as is permitted by the Treaty of Union, which provides that the Court is "subject, nevertheless, to such regulations as shall be made by the parliament of Great Britain."

References

Statutory law Scots law High Court of Justiciary {{scotland-stub