Justiciary Office
Justiciary Office provides the administrative services for the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Criminal Appeal. The offices are situated within Parliament House, Edinburgh, there is also an office in the High Court in Glasgow and further details of that office can be found below.
The public offices are open at the following times:
- Monday : 10.30 – 17.00
- Tuesday : 9.00 – 17.00
- Wednesday : 9.00 – 17.00
- Thursday :9.00 – 17.00
- Friday : 9.00 – 16.45
Reporting to the Principal Clerk of Session and Justiciary, the head of the office is the Deputy Principal Clerk of Justiciary. They have ultimate responsibility for the administration of the office and for the programming, in consultation with Crown Office, of the business of High Courts including Appeal Courts. They also represent the High Court at meetings with partners in the justice service. In addition they can authorise the transcript of proceedings of jury trials subject to payment of the appropriate fee.
There are a number of management posts within Justiciary Office, they are –
Officer in Charge
The officer in charge has overall responsibility for the management of Justiciary Office along with responsibility for projects designed to improve customer service.
Appeals Manager
The appeals manager has day to day responsibility for the programming of appeal business.
First Instance Managers East and West
These managers, who are based in Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively, have day to day responsibility for the allocation and programming of trial business.
As well as those posts there are senior experienced Depute Clerks whose principal role is the clerking of the appeal courts, although they can be called on to clerk trials if required.
The office is under the control of the Office Manager who has day to day responsibility for the management of approximately 15 staff. In addition to this managerial function they have a range of technical duties. They also respond to technical queries from members of the public through correspondence, telephone calls and persons attending at the office.
For administrative purposes the office that is located in Parliament House is divided into three sections. Each section is led by a team leader.
First Instance, Criminal Appeals and Justiciary Appeals.
First Instance (East).
This section is responsible for administrative support to High Court Sittings throughout Scotland with the exception of Glasgow. It instructs the Sheriff Clerk of the appropriate district to issue citations to potential jurors. It deals with enquiries from potential jurors regarding jury duty including applications for excusal. The section acts as a liaison point for all reports requested in relation to High Court trials.
First Instance (West)
This office is located within the High Court of Justiciary, Saltmarket, Glasgow and was set up in March 2005 following the recommendations of Lord Bonomy’s High Court Review. It provides the administrative support for all cases calling in Glasgow. The High Court building in Glasgow is under the supervision of the First Instance Manger West who has the day to day responsibility for the administration and management of staff along with the programming of the Court business for Glasgow & the West of Scotland in consultation with the Crown.
Criminal Appeals
The Criminal Appeals section processes all appeals in solemn cases - the procedure where during a trial the presiding judge sits with a jury. It requests reports from the judge who heard the case, sends these to the appellant and the Crown and processes applications for leave to appeal. It sends notice of the result to parties. Where leave to appeal is granted, the section assign cases to the appropriate Court and eventually send details of the outcome to the prison service, police records office and the lower court. If leave to appeal is refused it sends details of the outcome to the prison service, police records office and the lower court and issues any warrant to the appropriate authorities. The staff in the section also deal with a range of queries in relation to the above matters whether from correspondence, telephone calls or persons attending at the public counter.
Justiciary Appeals
The Justiciary Appeals section processes all appeals in summary cases the procedure where during a trial the presiding judge sits without a jury. The section processes applications for leave to appeal and notifies parties of the result. Where leave to appeal is granted, the section assign cases to the appropriate Court and eventually send details of the outcome to the prison service, police records office and the lower court. If leave to appeal is refused it sends details of the outcome to the prison service, police records office and the lower court and issues any warrant to the appropriate authorities. The staff in the section also deal with a range of queries whether by post, telephone or from persons attending at the public counter.
The staff within this section also process bail appeals from the Sheriff and District Courts throughout Scotland.