The Justice of the Peace Court (Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin) Order 2008

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes various provision in relation to the establishment of a justice of the peace court (“JP court”) in the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. JP Courts are being established on a Sheriffdom by Sheriffdom basis and have already been established in Lothian and Borders and Grampian, Highland and Islands.

Article 2 to the Order specifies that a JP court is to be established in the Sheriff Court District of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. That JP court is to take place in Glasgow.

Article 3 disestablishes the district court (established under the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975) in the Commission Area of Glasgow City Council.

The jurisdiction of the District Courts of East Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire also extend into the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. This is because the boundaries of those commission areas overlap the boundary of the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. There are regular sittings of those district courts at Kirkintilloch and Rutherglen respectively which both fall within the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin.

The District Courts of East Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire are not disestablished by this Order because to do so would mean that there would be inadequate provision of lower tier summary criminal courts in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway (which is currently served by the South Lanarkshire District Court in sittings at Hamilton, East Kilbride and Lanark and the district courts for other local authority areas within that Sheriffdom) and in the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde (which is currently served by the East Dunbartonshire District Court in sitting at Milngavie and the district courts for other local authority areas within that Sheriffdom).

Although the District Court of East Dunbartonshire and South Lanarkshire are not disestablished, the repeal of section 6(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”) for the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin means that the respective local authorities cannot set down sittings of those courts in the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. The effect of this repeal will be that there will no longer be sittings of those district courts within the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin which, of course, includes Rutherglen and Kirkintilloch. Section 6(1) of the 1995 Act is repealed by paragraph 9(1)(a) of the schedule to the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (“the 2007 Act”) which is to be commenced on the 8th December 2008 by the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2008.

Article 4 confirms that a scheme to be made by the Scottish Ministers (under section 65(2) of the 2007 Act) will identify which staff of the Glasgow District Court that scheme will apply to. The effect of the scheme will be that certain staff (being employees of the Glasgow City Council) will transfer to the employment of the Scottish Administration.

Article 5 makes incidental, consequential and transitional provision in relation to certain fixed penalties and conditional offers of penalties. These provisions will allow the Clerk of the JP Court for Glasgow and Strathkelvin to deal with matters relating to penalties and offers which were previously dealt with by the Clerk of the disestablished Glasgow District Court.

Article 6 makes further transitional provision allowing accused persons and witnesses to be cited to the JP Court for Glasgow and Strathkelvin prior to its establishment. The article makes transitional provision for fixing diets in those courts and for dealing with the alteration of such diets (under sections 137 and 137ZA of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995) and incidental applications made in respect of such cases (under section 134 of that Act).

Article 7 makes supplemental and transitional provision in relation to cases which are ongoing in the District Courts of East Dunbartonshire at Kirkintilloch and the District Court of South Lanarkshire at Rutherglen. This provision reflects the fact that there will be no further sittings of those courts in those locations as discussed above. The effect of the provisions at article 7(1) to (3) is that cases instigated in those courts and which fall within the jurisdiction of Glasgow Sheriff Court (and hence the jurisdiction of the JP Court for Glasgow and Strathkelvin) are transferred to the Glasgow and Strathkelvin JP Court. Provision is also made for transfer of relevant court records in paragraphs (4) to (6).

Interpretative glosses are provided to attach to articles 5 and 6 of this Order to enable the transfer of court business to the JP Court of Glasgow and Strathkelvin. In relation to article 5, the provisions of article 7(7) and (8) will allow the Clerk of the JP Court for Glasgow and Strathkelvin to deal with matters relating to certain penalties and offers which were previously dealt with by the Clerk of the District Court for East Dunbartonshire at Kirkintilloch and the Clerk of the District Court for South Lanarkshire at Rutherglen. In relation to article 6, the provisions of article 7(9) and (10) will allow citation and fixing of diets in the JP Court for Glasgow and Strathkelvin prior to its establishment in relation to cases in the District Court of East Dunbartonshire at Kirkintilloch and the District Court of South Lanarkshire at Rutherglen.

Article 8 of and the Schedule to the Order make provision in relation to the repeal of various sections of the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975. These repeals apply only to the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and are consequential upon the establishment of the JP court in that Sheriffdom and the disestablishment of the Glasgow District Court.