A sheriffdom is a judicial district in

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 ...

, led by a

sheriff principal In Scotland a sheriff principal (''pl''. sheriffs principal) is a judge in charge of a sheriffdom with judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative responsibilities. Sheriffs principal have been part of the judiciary of Scotland since the 11 ...

. 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 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 th ...

History

Before 1975

Sheriffdoms were originally identical to the

shires of Scotland The shires of Scotland ( gd, Siorrachdan na h-Alba), or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes (bei ...

, originating in the twelfth century. Until the eighteenth century the office of sheriff was often hereditary, but this was ended following the unsuccessful

Jacobite Rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

. The

Heritable Jurisdictions Act 1747 The Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 (20 Geo. II c. 43) was an Act of Parliament passed in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745 abolishing judicial rights held by Scots heritors. These were a significant source of power, especia ...

revested the government of the shires in the Crown, compensating those office holders who were displaced. The

Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 The Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 (21 Geo.II c.19) was an Act of the Parliament of Great BritainThe Act was actually passed in 1748, but is listed under 1747 because under the common law Acts of Parliament took effect retrospectively from the be ...

reduced the office of sheriff principal to a largely ceremonial one, with a sheriff depute or sheriff substitute appointed to each "county, shire or stewartry". The sheriff deputes, who were paid a salary by the Crown, were qualified advocates and took charge of sheriff courts. By the nineteenth century the office of sheriff principal was an additional title held by the lord lieutenant of the county and the Circuit Courts (Scotland) Act 1828 redesignated sheriff deputes as simply "sheriffs". The Sheriffs Act of 1747 also began the grouping of two or more counties under as a single sheriffdom. This process continued so that by 1975 there were 12 sheriffdoms with only the county of

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

not combined.

Since 1975

New boundaries defined sheriffdoms in reference to regions, districts and islands areas which were then to be created on 16 May 1975. This reduced the number of sheriffdoms to six. The sheriffdoms were redefined again with effect from 1 April 1996, when new

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phra ...

were created. 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.Explanatory note, The Sheriffdoms (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1996
/ref> Each sheriffdom has a full-time

Sheriff Principal In Scotland a sheriff principal (''pl''. sheriffs principal) is a judge in charge of a sheriffdom with judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative responsibilities. Sheriffs principal have been part of the judiciary of Scotland since the 11 ...

. Sheriffdoms are divided into Sheriff Court Districts, each with one or more

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

Notes and references

{{UK subdivisions * Scots law Administrative divisions of Scotland