College of Justice

College of Justice Act 1532
College of Justice Act 1532
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of Scotland
Long title	Concerning the ordour of Justice and the institutioun of ane college of cunning and wise men for the administracioun of Justice.
Citation	c. 2; [12mo ed: 1537 cc. 36–41]
Dates
Royal assent	17 May 1532
Other legislation
Amended by	Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1906;
Status: Amended
Text of the College of Justice Act 1532 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

College of Justice
College of Justice
	The Court of Session, the supreme civil court, is based at Parliament House
Established	1532
Jurisdiction	Scotland
Location	Edinburgh
Composition method	Judges are appointed by the Monarch on the recommendation of the First Minister, who receives recommendations from the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (Appeals from the the High Court are limited to appeals on points of law with respect to human rights and devolution issues.)
Judge term length	Mandatory retirement at age 75
Lord President and Lord Justice General
Currently	The Rt Hon Lord Carloway
Since	2015
Jurist term ends	2029
Lord Justice Clerk and President of the Second Division of the Inner House
Currently	The Rt Hon Lady Dorrian
Since	2016
Jurist term ends	2032

The College of Justice (Scottish Gaelic: Colaiste a' Cheartais) includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies.

The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, and the Auditor of the Court of Session.^[2]^[3]^[4] Its associated bodies are the Faculty of Advocates, the Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet and the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland.

The College is headed by the Lord President of the Court of Session, who also holds the title of Lord Justice General in relation to the High Court of Justiciary, and judges of the Court of Session and High Court are titled Senators of the College of Justice.

History

The college was founded in 1532 by King James V following a bull issued by Pope Clement VII on 15 September 1531. It provided for 10,000 gold ducats to be contributed by the Scottish bishoprics and monastic institutions for the maintenance of its members, one half of whom would be members of the "ecclesiastical dignity".^[5]

The Parliament of Scotland passed the College of Justice Act 1532 (c. 2) on 17 May 1532 authorising the creation of the college with 14 members, half spiritual, half temporal, plus a president and the Lord Chancellor. The college convened for the first time on 27 May 1532, in the royal presence.

Supplementing the 14 ordinary lords, who were called senators, were an indefinite number of supernumerary judges called extraordinary lords.

The founding members of the College of Justice were:

The Lord Chancellor, Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow
The Lord President, Alexander Myln, Abbot of Cambuskenneth
Richard Bothwell, Rector of Ashkirk
John Dingwall, Provost of Trinity College
Henry White, Rector of Finevin
William Gibson, Dean of Restalrig
Thomas Hay, Dean of Dunbar
Robert Reid, Abbot of Kinloss
George Ker, Provost of Dunglass
Sir William Scott of Balweary
Henry Lauder, Lord St Germains, King's Advocate^[6]
John Campbell of Lundy
Sir James Colville of Easter Wemyss
Sir Adam Otterburn of Auldhame and Redhall, King's Advocate
Nicholas Crawford of Oxengangs
Francis Bothwell of Edinburgh (brother of Richard)
James Lawson of Edinburgh
Sir James Foulis of Colinton, who was added at the first meeting of the court when the king made him a "Lord of the Session".

The college at its foundation dealt with underdeveloped civil law. It did not dispense justice in criminal matters as that was an area of the law reserved to the king's justice, through the justiciars (hence the High Court of the Justiciary), the Barony Courts and the Commission of Justiciary. The High Court of Justiciary was only incorporated into the College of Justice in 1672.

Initially, there was little legal literature. Acts of the Parliament of Scotland and the books of the Old Law as well as Roman Law and canon law texts were about all to which the pursuer and defender could refer. It was only after the establishment of the court that this situation improved, with judges noting their decisions in books of practicks.

The Treaty of Union 1707 with England preserved the Scottish Legal System. Article XIX provided "that the Court of Session or College of Justice do after the Union and notwithstanding thereof remain in all time coming within Scotland, and that the Court of Justiciary do also after the Union ... remain in all time coming."

References

^ "Judicial Appointments - How are judges appointed?". Judiciary of Scotland. Edinburgh: Judicial Office for Scotland. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
^ PDF-file Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine - "The Supreme Courts are made up of: the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary and the Accountant of Court's Office" - Scottish Court Service, accessed 12 March 2007
^ "Expenses and Funding of Litigation Bill | Auditor of Court Provisions" (PDF). scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk. Scottish Civil Justice Council. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
^ "Court of Session Act 1821", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1821 c. 38
^ The 1531 bull stipulated that of the senators "media pars in dignitate ecclesiastica constituta omnino esse debeat"; a March 1534 bull of Pope Paul III added "pro uno Presidente semper prelate ecclesiastico". Baird Smith, David (1912), "The Reformers and divorce", The Scottish Historical Review, 9: 12–13
^ "One of the nine advocates appointed at the institution of the College of Justice. Dalrymple of Hailes, Bt., Sir David, An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice of Scotland from its Institution, Edinburgh, 1849, p.63.

External links

Supreme Courts Archived 6 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine at the National Archives of Scotland

[JOS-1] "Judicial Appointments - How are judges appointed?". Judiciary of Scotland. Edinburgh: Judicial Office for Scotland. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2012.

[2] PDF-file Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine - "The Supreme Courts are made up of: the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary and the Accountant of Court's Office" - Scottish Court Service, accessed 12 March 2007

[auditor_1-3] "Expenses and Funding of Litigation Bill | Auditor of Court Provisions" (PDF). scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk. Scottish Civil Justice Council. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2017.

[session_act_1821-4] "Court of Session Act 1821", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1821 c. 38

[5] The 1531 bull stipulated that of the senators "media pars in dignitate ecclesiastica constituta omnino esse debeat"; a March 1534 bull of Pope Paul III added "pro uno Presidente semper prelate ecclesiastico". Baird Smith, David (1912), "The Reformers and divorce", The Scottish Historical Review, 9: 12–13

[6] "One of the nine advocates appointed at the institution of the College of Justice. Dalrymple of Hailes, Bt., Sir David, An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice of Scotland from its Institution, Edinburgh, 1849, p.63.

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v t e Courts of Scotland
Administration (Executive)	Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice Judicial Appointments Board Scottish Children's Reporter Administration Crown Office Lord Advocate Solicitor General for Scotland Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
Administration (Judicial)	Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Judicial Office for Scotland College of Justice Act of Sederunt Scottish Civil Justice Council Act of Adjournal Criminal Courts Rules Council Office of the Public Guardian Scottish Sentencing Council
Judiciary	Lord President Lord Justice Clerk Senator of the College of Justice Lord Lyon King of Arms Sheriff principal Appeal Sheriff Sheriff Justice of the peace
Civil courts	Supreme Court Court of Session Office of the Accountant of Court Auditor of the Court of Session Sheriff Appeal Court Sheriff Personal Injury Court Sheriff court
Criminal courts	High Court of Justiciary Sheriff Appeal Court Sheriff court Justice of the peace court
Specialist courts	Court of the Lord Lyon Scottish Land Court Lands Tribunal for Scotland Children's hearing
Legal profession	Faculty of Advocates Advocate Law Society of Scotland Solicitor Solicitor advocate Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal
Historical courts	Admiralty Court District courts Court of Exchequer High Court of Constabulary

History

See also

References

External links