Scottish judiciary

Judiciary of Scotland

Agency overview
Formed	Early Middle Ages
Type	Judiciary
Jurisdiction	Scotland
Headquarters	Judicial Office for Scotland, Parliament House, Edinburgh, EH1 1RQ
Annual budget	£51.7 million (2013-14)
Agency executives	Lord Carloway, Lord President Lady Dorrian, Lord Justice Clerk Steve Humphreys, Executive Director Judicial Office
Parent department	Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
Website	www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk
Map
Scotland in the UK and Europe

The judiciary of Scotland are the judicial office holders who sit in the courts of Scotland and make decisions in both civil and criminal cases. Judges make sure that cases and verdicts are within the parameters set by Scots law, and they must hand down appropriate judgments and sentences. Judicial independence is guaranteed in law, with a legal duty on Scottish Ministers, the Lord Advocate and the Members of the Scottish Parliament to uphold judicial independence, and barring them from influencing the judges through any form of special access.

The Lord President of the Court of Session is the head of Scotland's judiciary and the presiding judge of the College of Justice (which consists of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary.) As of May 2016, the Lord President was Lord Carloway, who was appointed in December 2015 having previously served as Lord Justice Clerk. The Lord President is supported by the Judicial Office for Scotland which was established on 1 April 2010 as a result of the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, and the Lord President chairs the corporate board of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.