Justice of the peace court in the context of "Sheriff principal"

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👉 Justice of the peace court in the context of Sheriff principal

In Scotland a sheriff principal (pl. sheriffs principal) (Scottish Gaelic: àrd-siorram) 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 11th century. Sheriffs principal were originally appointed by the monarch of Scotland, and evolved into a heritable jurisdiction before appointment was again vested in the Crown and the monarch of the United Kingdom following the passage of the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746.

Under the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971 (as amended), each sheriff principal is appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the First Minister of Scotland, who is advised by the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. As of May 2017 there were six sheriffs principal, each of whom has responsibility not only as a judge, but for the administration of justice in their respective sheriffdoms. Sheriffs principal have to ensure the effective running of the sheriff courts and justice of the peace courts within their jurisdiction. Following the passage of both the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008, sheriffs principal are subject to the authority and direction of the Lord President of the Court of Session as Head of the Judiciary of Scotland.

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Justice of the peace court in the context of Rights of audience

In common law, a right of audience is generally a right of a lawyer to appear and conduct proceedings in court on behalf of their client. In English law, there is a fundamental distinction between barristers, who have rights of audience in the superior court, and solicitors, who have rights of audience in the lower courts, unless a certificate of advocacy is obtained, which allows a solicitor advocate to represent clients in the superior courts also. There is no such distinction in American law.

In superior courts, generally only barristers or advocates have a right of audience. Depending on jurisdiction, solicitors may have a right of audience in the County Court, magistrates' courts and justice of the peace courts. Further, a person appearing in court without legal representation has a right of audience but a person who is not a lawyer that assists a party to a legal matter in court does not have a right of audience. See D v S (Rights of Audience) [1997] 2 FCR 217

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Justice of the peace court in the context of Procurator fiscal

A procurator fiscal (pl. procurators fiscal), sometimes called PF or fiscal (Scottish Gaelic: Neach-casaid a' Chrùin), is a public prosecutor in Scotland, who has the power to impose fiscal fines. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland (similar to a coroner in common law systems), conduct fatal accident inquiries (a form of inquest unique to the Scottish legal system) and handle criminal complaints against the police (administrative complaints are handled by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner). They also receive reports from specialist reporting agencies such as His Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

For the majority of crimes in Scotland, the procurators fiscal present cases for the prosecution in the sheriff and justice of the peace courts (and formerly district courts), and the case for the defence is presented either by the accused, a solicitor, or an advocate. The solicitor will work for a firm of solicitors, or in certain areas of Scotland could be a public defender working for the Public Defence Solicitors' Office.

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