Sheriffdom

Asheriffdomis a judicial district inScotland,led by asheriff principal.Since 1 January 1975, there have been six sheriffdoms. Each sheriffdom is divided into a series ofsheriff courtdistricts, 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 thejudiciary of Scotland.

History

Before 1975

Main article:Historical development of Scottish sheriffdoms

Sheriffdoms were originally identical to theshires of Scotland,originating in the twelfth century. Until the eighteenth century the office of sheriff was often hereditary, but this was ended following the unsuccessfulJacobite Rising of 1745.TheHeritable Jurisdictions Act 1747revested the government of the shires in the Crown, compensating those office holders who were displaced. TheSheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747reduced 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 qualifiedadvocatesand took charge of sheriff courts.By the nineteenth century, the office of sheriff principal was an additional title held by thelord 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 a single sheriffdom. This process continued so that by 1975 there were 12 sheriffdoms with only the county ofLanarkshirenot combined.

Since 1975

New boundaries defined sheriffdoms in reference toregions, districts and islands areaswhich 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 newlocal government areaswere created.The boundaries of four sheriffdoms were unchanged. The boundaries of the other two were altered, so as to transfer an area aroundChrystonfrom 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.

Sheriffdom	Counties comprised in sheriffdom from 1 January 1975	Regions, Island areas and Districts comprised in sheriffdom from 16 May 1975	Areas comprised in sheriffdom from 1 April 1996
Glasgow and Strathkelvin	That part of theCounty of Lanarkcomprising the sheriff court district of Glasgow	The districts of City ofGlasgowandStrathkelvin	City ofGlasgow,part ofEast Dunbartonshire(wards 11–26); and part ofSouth Lanarkshire(wards 62–74)
Grampian, Highland and Islands	The counties ofInverness,Nairn,Ross and Cromarty,Moray,Caithness,Sutherland,Orkney,Zetland,Aberdeen,KincardineandBanff;and that part of theCounty of Argyllcomprised in the existing sheriff court district ofFort William	The regions ofGrampianandHighland,the Islands areas ofOrkney,ShetlandandWestern Isles	AberdeenCity,Aberdeenshire,Highland,Moray,Orkney Islands,Shetland IslandsandWestern Isles
Lothian and Borders	The counties ofEast Lothian,Midlothian,West Lothian,Berwick,Peebles,RoxburghandSelkirk	The regions ofLothianandBorders	City ofEdinburgh,East Lothian,Midlothian,West LothianandScottish Borders
North Strathclyde	The counties ofRenfrew,Argyll(without the part comprised in the existing sheriff court district ofFort William),Dunbarton,Buteand that part of thecounty of Ayrcomprising the sheriff court district ofKilmarnock	The districts ofArgyll and Bute,Dumbarton,Clydebank,Bearsden and Milngavie,Renfrew,Eastwood,Inverclyde,CunninghameandKilmarnock and Loudoun	Argyll and Bute,North Ayrshire,West Dunbartonshire,Inverclyde,East RenfrewshireandRenfrewshire;part ofEast Ayrshire(wards 1-20); and part ofEast Dunbartonshire(wards 1–10)
South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway	The counties ofDumfries,KirkcudbrightandWigtown;that part of thecounty of Ayrcomprising the sheriff court district ofAyr	The region ofDumfries and Galloway;the districts ofMonklands,Cumbernauld,Hamilton,Motherwell,East Kilbride,Kyle and CarrickandCumnock and Doon Valley	South Ayrshire,Dumfries and GallowayandNorth Lanarkshire;part ofEast Ayrshire,(wards 21–30) and part ofSouth Lanarkshire(wards 1-61)
Tayside, Central and Fife	The counties ofPerth,Angus,Stirling,Clackmannan,FifeandKinross	The regions ofTayside,CentralandFife	Angus,Clackmannanshire,DundeeCity,Falkirk,Fife,Perth and KinrossandStirling

Each sheriffdom has a full-timeSheriff Principal.Sheriffdoms are divided intoSheriff Court Districts,each with one or moresheriff.