The College of Justice includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

s are the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburg ...

, the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cour ...

, the Office of the Accountant of Court, and the Auditor of the Court of Session. Its associated bodies are the Faculty of Advocates, the

Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of docume ...

and the Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland. The College is headed by the Lord President of the Court of Session, who also holds the title of Lord Justice General in relation to the

, and judges of the Court of Session and High Court are titled Senators of the College of Justice.

History

The College was founded in 1532 by King James V following a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

issued by

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

on 15 September 1531. It provided for 10,000 gold ducats to be contributed by the Scottish bishoprics and monastic institutions for the maintenance of its members, one half of whom would be members of the "ecclesiastical dignity".The 1531 bull stipulated that of the senators ""; a March 1534 bull of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

added "". The

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

passed an Act on 17 May 1532 authorising the creation of the college with 14 members, half spiritual, half temporal, plus a president and the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

. The college convened for the first time on 27 May 1532, in the royal presence. Supplementing the 14 ordinary lords, who were called Senators, were an indefinite number of supernumerary judges called extraordinary lords. The founding members of the College of Justice were: * The Lord Chancellor, Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow * The Lord President, Alexander Myln, Abbot of

Cambuskenneth Cambuskenneth ( gd, Camas Choinnich ) is a village in the city of Stirling, Scotland. It has a population of 250 and is the site of the historic Cambuskenneth Abbey. It is situated by the River Forth and the only road access to the village is alo ...

* Richard Bothwell, Rector of

Ashkirk Ashkirk is a small village on the Ale Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is located just off the A7 road, approximately each way between Selkirk to the north and Hawick to the south. Other places nearby include the Alemoor L ...

* John Dingwell, Provost of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

* Henry White, Rector of Finevin * William Gibson, Dean of Restalrig * Thomas Hay, Dean of

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ...

* Robert Reid, Abbot of Kinloss * George Ker, Provost of Dunglass * Sir William Scott of Balweary * John Campbell of Lundy * Sir James Colville of Easter Wemyss * Sir

Adam Otterburn Adam Otterburn of Auldhame and Redhall (died 6 July 1548) was a Scottish lawyer and diplomat. He was king's advocate to James V of Scotland and secretary to Mary of Guise and Regent Arran. The King's lawyer The law brought against the Douglas ...

Auldhame Auldhame and Scoughall are hamlets in East Lothian, Scotland. They are close to the town of North Berwick and the village of Whitekirk, and are approximately east of Edinburgh. Saint Baldred's legacy It is said that the 8th-century Christia ...

and Redhall, King's

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However ...

* Nicholas Crawford of Oxengangs * Francis Bothwell of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

(brother of Richard) * James Lawson of Edinburgh * Sir James Foulis of Colinton, who was added at the first meeting of the court when the king made him a "Lord of the Session". The College at its foundation dealt with underdeveloped civil law. It did not dispense justice in criminal matters as that was an area of the law reserved to the King's justice, through the

justiciar Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term ''justiciarius'' or ''justitiarius'' ("man of justice", i.e. judge). During the Middle Ages in England, the Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the Justiciar) was roughly equivalent ...

s (hence the High Court of the Justiciary), the

Barony Court Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

s and the

Commission of Justiciary {{not to be confused, Justiciar A commission of justiciary was a method of law enforcement employed in Scotland, in particular in the 16th and 17th centuries. In an era when the practical reach of central government was limited, the issuing auth ...

. The High Court of Justiciary was only incorporated into the College of Justice in 1672. Initially, there was little legal literature. Acts of the

and the books of the

Old Law Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

as well as

Roman Law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

and

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

texts were about all to which the pursuer and defender could refer. It was only after the establishment of the court that this situation improved, with judges noting their decisions in . The

Treaty of Union 1707 The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain, stating that the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland were to be "United i ...

with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

preserved the

Scottish Legal System Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland ...

. Article XIX provided ''"that the Court of Session or College of Justice do after the Union and notwithstanding thereof remain in all time coming within Scotland, and that the Court of Justiciary do also after the Union ... remain in all time coming."''

References

External links

Supreme Courts
at the

National Archives of Scotland The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) is the previous name of the National Records of Scotland (NRS), and are the national archives of Scotland, based in Edinburgh. The NAS claims to have one of the most varied collection of archives in Europe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:College Of Justice Courts of Scotland

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Organisations based in Edinburgh 16th-century papal bulls 1532 establishments in Scotland 1532 in law Organizations established in the 1530s

History

See also

References

External links