District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975

11 Ex officio justices

(1) Any person holding office as justice of the peace for any area immediately before 16th May 1975 by virtue of any other office for the time being held by him shall, on that date, cease to hold office as justice for that area, notwithstanding the provisions of any enactment or of any instrument in terms of which he holds that office.

(2) Each local authority may nominate up to one quarter of their members to serve as ex officio justices for their area, and any person so nominated shall hold office as ex officio justice from the date on which the local authority intimate their nomination to the Secretary of State and shall continue as such for the period during which he remains a member of the authority and continues to retain the authority's nomination.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, any person nominated to serve as an ex officio justice shall, before acting as such a justice, take the oath of allegiance and judicial oath in accordance with the [1868 c. 72.] Promissory Oaths Act 1868 and the [1871 c. 48.] Promissory Oaths Act 1871.

(4) A person re-nominated to serve as an ex officio justice immediately after the expiry of a previous term as such shall not require to take again the oaths mentioned in subsection (3) above.

(5) Each local authority shall intimate to the Secretary of State the date on which a person duly nominated under subsection (2) above ceases to be a member of the authority or on which his nomination is terminated by the authority.

(6) A person duly nominated under subsection (2) above shall not be treated as having ceased to be a member of the local authority during any period when he is standing for re-election to that authority.

(7) A person holding office as an ex officio justice by virtue of subsection (2) above shall hold office as if appointed in accordance with section 9(2) of this Act as a justice for the commission area concerned.

(8) A person holding office as an ex officio justice by virtue of subsection (2) above shall, in his capacity as a justice, not be elected under section 5(3) of the [1959 c. 51.] Licensing (Scotland) Act 1959 to serve as a member of a licensing court or court of appeal and shall not attend or vote at any meeting of justices to elect members of any such court.