Sheriffdom
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A sheriffdom is a judicial district in Scotland, led by a sheriff principal. Since 1 January 1975, there have been six sheriffdoms. Each sheriffdom is divided into a series of sheriff court districts, and each sheriff court is presided over by a resident or floating sheriff (a legally qualified judge). Sheriffs principal and resident or floating sheriffs are all members of the judiciary of Scotland.
History
Before 1975
Sheriffdoms were originally identical to the
The Sheriffs Act of 1747 also began the grouping of two or more counties under a single sheriffdom. This process continued so that by 1975 there were 12 sheriffdoms with only the county of Lanarkshire not combined.
Since 1975
New boundaries defined sheriffdoms in reference to
The sheriffdoms were redefined again with effect from 1 April 1996, when new local government areas were created.[5] The boundaries of four sheriffdoms were unchanged. The boundaries of the other two were altered, so as to transfer an area around Chryston from the sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin to the sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway. Elsewhere boundaries were simply redefined by reference to new local authority areas and electoral wards.[6]
Sheriffdom | Counties comprised in sheriffdom from 1 January 1975 | Regions, Island areas and Districts comprised in sheriffdom from 16 May 1975 | Areas comprised in sheriffdom from 1 April 1996 |
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Glasgow and Strathkelvin
|
That part of the County of Lanark comprising the sheriff court district of Glasgow | The districts of City of Glasgow and Strathkelvin | City of Glasgow, part of East Dunbartonshire (wards 11–26); and part of South Lanarkshire (wards 62–74) |
Grampian, Highland and Islands
|
The counties of Fort William
|
The regions of Western Isles
|
Western Isles
|
Lothian and Borders | The counties of | The regions of Lothian and Borders | City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and Scottish Borders |
North Strathclyde
|
The counties of Fort William), Dunbarton, Bute and that part of the county of Ayr comprising the sheriff court district of Kilmarnock
|
The districts of | Argyll and Bute, North Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire; part of East Ayrshire (wards 1-20); and part of East Dunbartonshire (wards 1–10) |
South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
|
The counties of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown; that part of the county of Ayr comprising the sheriff court district of Ayr | The region of | South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway and North Lanarkshire; part of East Ayrshire, (wards 21–30) and part of South Lanarkshire (wards 1-61) |
Tayside, Central and Fife
|
The counties of Perth, Angus, Stirling, Clackmannan, Fife and Kinross | The regions of Tayside, Central and Fife | Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, Falkirk, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Stirling |
Each sheriffdom has a full-time
Notes and references
- JSTOR 4048219.
- ^ "Guide to Sheriff Court Records". National Archives of Scotland. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ^ 9 Geo.4 c.29 s,22 "Sheriff-Deputes may be addressed by the title of Sheriff without the term Depute being added."
- ^ The Sheriffdoms Reorganisation Order 1974 S. I. 1974/2087 (S.191)
- ^ The Sheriffdoms (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1996 S. I. 1996/1006 (S.109)
- ^ Explanatory note, The Sheriffdoms (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1996