In the [1971 c. 58.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971—
(a)for subsection (1) of section 10 (Secretary of State may authorise sheriff principal to act in another sheriffdom) there shall be substituted the following subsections—
“(1)Where a vacancy occurs in the office of sheriff principal of any sheriffdom the Secretary of State may, if it appears to him expedient so to do in order to avoid delay in the administration of justice in that sheriffdom, authorise the sheriff principal of any other sheriffdom to perform the duties of sheriff principal in the first-mentioned sheriffdom (in addition to his own duties) until the Secretary of State otherwise decides.
(1A)Where the sheriff principal of any sheriffdom is unable to perform, or rules that he is precluded from performing, all of, or some part of, his duties as sheriff principal the Secretary of State may authorise the sheriff principal of any other sheriffdom to perform the duties of sheriff principal, or as the case may be that part of those duties, in the first-mentioned sheriffdom (in addition to his own duties) until the Secretary of State otherwise decides.”; and
(b)for subsection (1) of section 11 (Secretary of State may appoint temporary sheriff principal) there shall be substituted the following subsections—
“(1)Where a vacancy occurs in the office of sheriff principal of any sheriffdom the Secretary of State may, if it appears to him expedient so to do in order to avoid delay in the administration of justice in that sheriffdom, appoint a person to act as sheriff principal of the sheriffdom.
(1A)Where the sheriff principal of any sheriffdom is unable to perform, or rules that he is precluded from performing, all of, or some part of, his duties as sheriff principal the Secretary of State may appoint a person to act as sheriff principal of the sheriffdom, or as the case may be to perform that part of the duties of the sheriff principal.
(1B)A person appointed under subsection (1) or (1A) above shall be known as a temporary sheriff principal.”.
(1)It shall not be competent to appoint a civil action to be tried before a jury in the sheriff court; and accordingly—
(a)in the [1907 c. 51.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907—
(i)section 31 (jury trial in sheriff court) shall cease to have effect; and
(ii)in Schedule 1 (rules for regulating procedure in the ordinary courts), rules 133 to 150 shall cease to have effect; and
(b)section 6 of the [1913 c. 28.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1913 (procedure at jury trials) shall cease to have effect.
(2)Subsection (1) above, and Schedule 3 to this Act in so far as that Schedule relates to—
(a)sections 3, 27(D) and 31 and rules 133 to 150 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907 ;
(b)section 2 of the [1910 c. 31.] Jury Trials Amendment (Scotland) Act 1910;
(c)section 6 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1913 ;
(d)section 2 of the [1958 c. 61.] Interest on Damages (Scotland) Act 1958:
(e)section 1 of the [1971 c. 31.] Interest on Damages (Scotland) Act 1971; or
(f)section 40, and the reference thereto in section 41, of the [1971 c. 58.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971,
have no effect as regards any action which the sheriff has, before the coming into force of this section, appointed to be tried before a jury.
In the [1913 c. 20.] Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1913—
(a)in section 11 (competence of sequestration), for the words " within a " there shall be substituted the words " at any time during the ";
(b)in section 16 (courts for awarding sequestration), for the words after " of any " and before " Provided " there shall be substituted the words— “sheriffdom within which the debtor—
(a)resided or had a dwelling house or place of business at the date of the presentation of the petition for sequestration; or
(b)resided or carried on business for any period of forty or more days during the year before the said date:”;
(c)in section 175 (petition for summary sequestration)—
(i)in subsection (1), for the words from " of any sheriffdom " to " the petition " there shall be substituted the word " court ";
(ii)for subsection (2) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
“(2)Where
(a)the petitioner does not possess sufficient information to enable him to determine to which sheriff court presentation of the petition would, by virtue of section 16 of this Act, be appropriate; or
(b)the debtor is furth of Scotland,
the petition for summary sequestration may be presented to the sheriff court at Edinburgh.”.
In the [1921 c. 58.] Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921—
(a)in section 22 (appointment of new trustees by the court)—
(i)for the word " court" where it first occurs there shall be substituted the words " Court of Session or an appropriate sheriff court "; and
(ii)after the word " court" where it occurs for the second time there shall be inserted the words " to which application is made ";
(b)in section 23 (removal of trustees in certain cases), for the words from "in the case of a mortis causa trust" to the end there shall be substituted the words " may be made either to the Court of Session or to an appropriate sheriff court. ";
(c)in section 24 (completion of title by the beneficiary of a lapsed trust)—
(i)for the word " court" where it first occurs there shall be substituted the words " Court of Session or an appropriate sheriff court "; and
(ii)after the word " court" where it occurs for the second time there shall be inserted the words " to which application is made "; and
(d)the following section shall be inserted after section 24—
—In sections 22 to 24 of this Act the expression " appropriate sheriff court " means—
(a)in the case of a trust other than a marriage contract—
(i)where the truster, or any of the trusters, was at the date of the coming into operation of the trust domiciled in a sheriffdom, a sheriff court of that sheriffdom; or
(ii)where sub-paragraph (i) of this paragraph does not apply, or where the applicant does not possess sufficient information to enable him to determine which sheriff court, if any, would by virtue of that sub-paragraph be an appropriate sheriff court, the sheriff court at Edinburgh;
(b)in the case of a marriage contract—
(i)where either spouse is, or was when he died, domiciled in a sheriffdom, a sheriff court of that sheriffdom; or
(ii)where sub-paragraph (i) of this paragraph does not apply, or where the applicant does not possess sufficient information to enable him to determine which sheriff court, if any, would by virtue of that sub-paragraph be an appropriate sheriff court, the sheriff court at Edinburgh.”.
(1)In the [1880 c. 4.] Judicial Factors (Scotland) Act 1880—
(a)in section 3 (interpretation), for the words " mean factor loco tutoris and curator bonis " there shall be substituted the words " include a curator bonis, a factor loco tutoris, a factor loco absentis, a factor on trust or other estates, and a guardian where caution is required, but does not include a judicial factor appointed under section 14 or 163 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1913 ";
(b)in section 4 (sheriff's appointment of judicial factor)—
(i)for the words from " It shall " to " respectively " where it first occurs there shall be substituted the words " The sheriff shall have the same powers to appoint judicial factors as have the Court of Session and he ";
(ii)for paragraph 1 there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—
“1Proceedings for appointment of judicial factors in the sheriff court shall commence by petition to be presented in an appropriate sheriff court as nearly as may be in the form in use in ordinary actions in that court:
1AIn paragraph 1 above, the expression " appropriate sheriff court"—
(a)in the case of a petition for the appointment of a judicial factor on a trust estate, shall have the same meaning as in sections 22 to 24 of the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921 ; and
(b)in any other case shall mean—
(i)where the petition is for the appointment of a judicial factor (other than a factor loco absentis) to an individual, a sheriff court of the sheriffdom in which the individual is resident;
(ii)where the petition is for the appointment of a factor loco absentis to an individual, a sheriff court of the sheriffdom in which the individual was last known to the petitioner to be resident ; or
(iii)where the petition is not as mentioned in either of the foregoing provisions of this subparagraph, the sheriff court at Edinburgh:”; and
(iii)paragraphs 2 and 3 shall cease to have effect.
(2)In section 163 of the [1913 c. 20.] Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1913 (application for judicial factor on estate of person deceased), the words "where the assets of the deceased are estimated not to exceed five hundred pounds " shall cease to have effect.
In the [1907 c. 51.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907—
(a)in section 5(5) (jurisdiction in suspension of charges), the words " where the debt exclusive of interest and expenses does not exceed fifty pounds " shall cease to have effect; and
(b)in rule 123 of the first Schedule (summary application for suspension of charges), the words " not exceeding fifty pounds, exclusive of interest and expenses " shall cease to have effect.
Subject to subsection (2) below, in section 37 of the [1971 c. 58.] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971 (remits)—
(a)in subsection (1)—
(i)after the word " sheriff ", where it occurs for the second time, there shall be inserted " —(a) "; and
(ii)at the end there shall be added the words— “;
(b)may, subject to section 7 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907, on the motion of any of the parties to the cause, if he is of the opinion that the importance or difficulty of the cause make it appropriate to do so, remit the cause to the Court of Session.”;
(b)after subsection (2) there shall be inserted the following subsection—
“(2A)In the case of any action in the sheriff court in relation to the custody or adoption of a child the sheriff may, of his own accord, at any stage remit the action to the Court of Session.”;
(c)for subsection (3) there shall be substituted the following subsection—
“(3)A decision—
(a)to remit, or not to remit, under subsection (2A) above; or
(b)to make, or not to make, a direction by virtue of paragraph (b) of, or the proviso to, subsection (2) above,
shall not be subject to review ; but from a decision to remit, or not to remit, under subsection (11(b) above an appeal shall lie to the Court of Session.”.