Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order makes various provisions in relation to the establishment of justice of the peace courts (“JP courts”) in the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands.
Article 2 of and Schedule 1 to the Order specify the justice of the peace courts which are to be established in the various Sheriff Court Districts within the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands.
Article 3 of and Schedule 2 to the Order make provision for the disestablishment of the district courts (established under the District Courts (Scotland) Act 1975) which sit within the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands. Those district courts are disestablished by reference to commission areas (areas of Councils) in which they were established.
Article 4 makes incidental, consequential and transitional provision in relation to certain fixed penalties and conditional offers of penalties. These provisions will allow the clerks to the justice of the peace courts to deal with matters relating to these penalties and offers which were previously dealt with by the clerk to the, disestablished, district courts.
Article 5 makes further transitional provision allowing accused persons and witnesses to be cited to the JP courts in the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands, prior to their establishment. The article also 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 6 of and Schedule 3 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 Grampian, Highland and Islands and are consequential upon the establishment of JP courts in that Sheriffdom and the disestablishment of the district courts.