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Judicial service reforms announced |
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Thursday, 31 January 2008 |
Scotland’s judges will see their independence formalised, and the Lord President given greater autonomy under new legislation published today.
The Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Bill makes the Lord President the formal head of the Scottish judiciary, and makes the Scottish Court Service a non- Ministerial body to be run by a board with a judicial majority.
Other reforms will see processes for complaints against judicial officers formalised and allow retired judges to return to service for short periods to deal with backlogs of work.
Announcing the Bill, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:
“At the core of any modern justice system is a judiciary that is independent of the legislative and executive branches of government. This Bill will strengthen and modernise arrangements for the Scottish judiciary and reform the administration of the courts.
“It will build on existing and on-going reforms, including improvements to how police, fiscals and the courts deal with lower-level 'summary' cases, to improve the experience of the public and practioners within a modern justice system. The legislation is one of constitutional significance which considers the relationship between the judiciary and the other branches of government. I look forward to further discussion and debate as it progresses through the Parliament.”
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