Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008

Part 1 Judicial independence

1 Guarantee of continued judicial independence

(1) The following persons must uphold the continued independence of the judiciary—

(a) the First Minister,

(b) the Lord Advocate,

(c) the Scottish Ministers,

(d) members of the Scottish Parliament, and

(e) all other persons with responsibility for matters relating to—

(i) the judiciary, or

(ii) the administration of justice,

where that responsibility is to be discharged only in or as regards Scotland.

(2) In particular, the First Minister, the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Ministers—

(a) must not seek to influence particular judicial decisions through any special access to the judiciary, and

(b) must have regard to the need for the judiciary to have the support necessary to enable them to carry out their functions.

(3) In this section “the judiciary” means the judiciary of—

(a) the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom,

(b) any other court established under the law of Scotland, and

(c) any international court.

(4) In subsection (3)(c) “international court” means the International Court of Justice or any other court or tribunal which exercises jurisdiction, or performs functions of a judicial nature, in pursuance of—

(a) an agreement to which the United Kingdom or Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom is a party, or

(b) a resolution of the Security Council or General Assembly of the United Nations.