Stornoway Sheriff Court
Hearings continue to call at Stornoway Sheriff Court
Jury trials which would otherwise call at Stornoway Sheriff Court were transferred to Inverness from July this year, due to the ongoing staffing challenges being faced by GEOAmey.
We would like to make it clear that all other hearings, including summary trials and civil hearings will still call at Stornoway Sheriff Court. Please only attend Inverness Sheriff Court if you have received a citation requiring you to do so.
The Order published in July requires new jury trials which would have called at Stornoway, Lerwick, Kirkwall, Portree and Lochmaddy Sheriff Courts to call at Inverness, Aberdeen or Peterhead Sheriff Courts instead.
Sheriff Principal Pyle has this order under constant review and is consulting with justice partners with a view to returning jury trials to island courts when practically possible.
If you want to pay your fine or would like information and advice please visit our Pay a Fine page.
Hub Courts for new, first instance custodies
New, first instance custody cases will continue to be heard in hub courts as first instance cases in each Sheriffdom as follows. Thereafter, if a further substantive hearing is assigned this will be to the court of local jurisdiction.
Sheriffdom orders
The following Sheriffdom guidance, information and practice notes apply to this court.
Please also refer to the
Rules and Practice section of the website.
| GHI Act of Court No 4 of 2023 | PDF | 46.42 KB | 26 Sep, 2023 |
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| GHI Act of Court No 2 of 2022 - Public & Court Holidays 2023 | PDF | 709.35 KB | 28 Nov, 2022 |
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| GHI Act of Court No 2 of 2023 – Public Holidays 2023 Amendment | PDF | 492.67 KB | 22 Aug, 2023 |
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| GHI Act of Court No 3 of 2023 – Public Holidays 2024 | PDF | 501.26 KB | 22 Aug, 2023 |
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| GHI - Order No. 3 of 2023 - Transfer of Island Court Trials to Sheriffdom Hub Courts | PDF | 401.16 KB | 19 Jul, 2023 |
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| GHI Act of Court No 1 of 2023 | PDF | 32.64 KB | 10 Feb, 2023 |
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| Final - Sheriffs Principal Guidance for Court Users - Electronic Submission of Documents | PDF | 227.19 KB | 24 Oct, 2022 |
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| PN no.3 of 2022 - PIDM (003) | PDF | 361.90 KB | 19 Oct, 2022 |
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| Management of Proceedings in the Sheriff Courts (July 2022) | PDF | 181.07 KB | 20 Jul, 2022 |
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| Guidance for Court Users - Child Welfare Hearings | PDF | 172.56 KB | 13 Jul, 2022 |
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| Management of Summary Cause Proceedings Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 | PDF | 193.24 KB | 11 Jul, 2022 |
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| Guidance Civil No 2 | PDF | 244.24 KB | 19 Jun, 2020 |
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| Electronic submission of documents Civil No 4 of 2020 | PDF | 104.73 KB | 26 Jun, 2020 |
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| Guidance for Practitioners and Litigants - Adoption Proceedings GHI | PDF | 104.39 KB | 21 May, 2021 |
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| Civil Guidance - Video Conference Call | PDF | 126.59 KB | 03 Sep, 2021 |
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| 2022 Custody Direction | PDF | 239.43 KB | 19 Oct, 2021 |
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Stornoway Sheriff Court is situated in the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles. The Court jurisdiction covers the Islands of Lewis and Harris.
Contact Details
Postal address
Sheriff Court House,
9 Lewis Street,
Stornoway,
HS1 2JF
Main telephone
01851 702231
Sheriff Clerk / Main contact
Kenneth Finnie
Court accepts dative petitions, Special Petitions and Requirement of Writings applications only. Inventories and the issuing of confirmation is undertaken at Inverness Sheriff Court
Fax
01851 704296
Email
stornoway@scotcourts.gov.uk
Jury helpline
01851 702231
Accessibility contact
If you require the support of an interpreter when you contact a court (by phone or attend in person), a telephone interpretation service is available. To access this service ask for telephone interpreting and the language required. This service is NOT available during actual court proceedings.
If you use British Sign Language (BSL) and wish to phone us using a sign language interpreter, you can use the online video relay interpreting service. For more information see the contactSCOTLAND website. www.contactscotland-bsl.org
Directions
The court is about 5-10 minutes walk from Stornoway town centre. Please use the Journey Planner for public transportation information.
By bus
The bus station is at South Beach and is a 5-10 minutes walk from the Court. Bus timetables can be found at the website.
By car
There is a public car park at the court. There are limited parking spaces which are on a first come first served basis. Other parking is available at South Beach Quay (Free Parking) and Perceval Square.
By taxi
There is a taxi rank 10 minute walk from the court.
By air
The nearest airport is Stornoway Airport (3 miles) - 01851 707400. There are daily flights to Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. There is no bus service to the Airport.
On Arrival
On arrival please report to the sheriff clerk's office. You will be directed from there to where you need to go in the building. If you are attending for jury duty please report to reception.
Access for wheelchair users is at the rear of the court building. If you have any specific access requirements please contact the sheriff clerk's office on 01851 702231.
Facilities
There are a small number of shops, cafes and hotels in Stornoway within walking distance of the court building where meals/snacks can be purchased. There are no refreshment facilities at the court.
If you are sitting on a jury, lunch and refreshments will be provided for you if the court sits into the afternoon.
A loop induction service is available in all courtrooms for people who have hearing difficulties. Please contact the sheriff clerk's office if you require to use this facility.
Pay a Fine
If you want to pay your fine or would like information and advice please visit our Pay a Fine page.
Opening Times
Mon - Fri 09.00 - 13:00,14:00 - 16:00
Opening hours for the public counters in all Sheriff and Justice of the Peace Courts during the festive period –
Friday 23 December 2022 – 9am to 3.30pm
Wednesday 28 December 2022 – 9am to 5pm
Thursday 29 December 2022 – 9am to 5pm
Friday 30 December 2022 – 9am to 3.30pm
Normal hours resume on Wednesday 4 January 2023
Public Holidays
2022
December 26, 27
2023
January 2, 3
April 7, 10
May 1, 8
July 3
August 21
September 25
December 4, 25, 26
Complaints
Please refer to the
complaints and feedback page.
Useful Links