Section 14 – Qualification for appointment
36.Section 14 sets out the qualification for appointment as a sheriff principal, sheriff, summary sheriff, part-time sheriff or part-time summary sheriff. It re-enacts the substance of section 5 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971 by requiring that an individual must have been a solicitor or advocate during the 10 years immediately prior to appointment. Subsection (1)(a) makes it explicit that experience in a judicial office specified in subsection (2) immediately prior to appointment also qualifies an individual for appointment.