The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2016
S.S.I. 2016/13 · Made 12 January 2016
Court Of Session
Scottish Land Court
Sheriff Court
Justice Of The Peace Court
Scottish Courts And Tribunals Service
Made 12th January 2016
Laid before the Scottish Parliament 14th January 2016
Coming into force 1st April 2016
The Scottish Ministers make the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 138(2) and (3) of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014f1 and all other powers enabling them to do so.
Annotations to the whole text
Footnotes
- f1
Contents
- 1Citation and commencement
- 2Appointed day
- 3Justice of the peace courts: summary criminal jurisdiction and powers where proceedings heard by a stipendiary magistrate
- Signature
- Schedule Provisions of the Act coming into force on 1st April 2016
- Explanatory note
1Citation and commencement
This Order may be cited as the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2016 and comes into force on 1st April 2016.
2Appointed day
Subject to paragraph (2), the day appointed for the coming into force of the provisions of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 specified in column 1 of the table in the Schedule to this Order (the subject matter of which is specified in column 2 of that table) is 1st April 2016.
Where a purpose is specified in column 3 of the table in the Schedule, a provision specified in column 1 of that table comes into force only for that purpose.
3Justice of the peace courts: summary criminal jurisdiction and powers where proceedings heard by a stipendiary magistrate
Paragraph (2) applies to proceedings in a JP court—
heard to any extent by a stipendiary magistrate; and
in which sentence has not been pronounced before 1st April 2016.
A JP court when constituted by a summary sheriff has, in addition to the jurisdiction and powers the court has otherwise, the summary criminal jurisdiction and powers of a sheriff.
Signature
PAUL WHEELHOUSE
Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers
St Andrew’s House,
Edinburgh
12th January 2016
Provisions of the Act coming into force on 1st April 2016
Column 1 Provisions of the Act | Column 2 Subject Matter | Column 3 Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Section 16(12) and (13) | Payment of salaries of sheriffs principal, sheriffs and summary sheriffs | |
| Section 124 | Payment of salaries of Court of Session judges | |
| Section 126 | Scottish Land Court: remuneration and expenses | |
| Section 128 | Abolition of the office of stipendiary magistrate | |
| Section 129 | Summary sheriffs to sit in justice of the peace courts | |
| Section 132 | Modifications of enactments | For the purpose of bringing into force the provisions of schedule 5 listed in column 1 below |
| The following provisions of schedule 5— | Modifications of enactments | |
| Paragraph 35 | Repeal of section 9(5) of the Administration of Justice Act 1973 | |
| Paragraph 39 | Amendment of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 | |
| Paragraph 40 | Amendment of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 | |
| Paragraph 41 | Amendment of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 |
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order brings into force provisions of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The provisions specified in column 1 of the table in the Schedule to the Order come into force on 1st April 2016. The subject matter of these provisions is set out in column 2 of the table, and where provisions are brought into force only for a limited purpose, this purpose is given in column 3.
Article 3 of the Order makes transitional provision to deal with the abolition of stipendiary magistrates on 1st April 2016 part-way through criminal proceedings. At present, a JP court when constituted by a stipendiary magistrate has the summary criminal jurisdiction and powers of a sheriff under section 7(5) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. A JP court constituted by a summary sheriff will not have those powers and section 7(5) is repealed by paragraph 39 of schedule 5 to the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 which is commenced by this Order.
Article 3(2) ensures that a summary sheriff will have the same powers previously available under section 7(5) for a limited period, namely in existing cases that were heard to any extent by a stipendiary magistrate and where sentence has not been pronounced before 1st April 2016. This ensures that the summary sheriff has the full range of sentencing options that were available to the stipendiary magistrate that heard the case.
The Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 received Royal Assent on 10th November 2014. Sections 133, 134(1) and (3) and 135 to 139 came into force the following day.