The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 is an
Act of the Scottish Parliament
An act of the Scottish Parliament () is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the successful 1997 Scottish devolution ref ...
passed in October 2008 to reform the courts of Scotland, to give statutory force to judicial independence, and to establish 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. ...
as Head of the
Judiciary of Scotland.
History
Provisions
Judicial independence
Judicial independence
Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...
is enshrined by Section 1 of the Act, which stipulates specific duties to uphold judicial independence on:
* The
First Minister of Scotland
* The
Lord Advocate
* The
Scottish Ministers
*
Members of the Scottish Parliament
* and others "with responsibility for matters relating to the judiciary or the administration of justice" in Scotland;
All of those specified are barred from using any form of special access to influence the judgements or decisions made by the
judiciary of Scotland.
References
{{Reflist
Courts of Scotland
Acts of the Scottish Parliament 2008
Judiciary of Scotland