The Act Part 1 - Sheriff Courts Leave of absence Section 18 – Leave of absence
42.Section 18 provides for leave of absence for sheriff court judiciary. In terms of subsection (1), it is for the Lord President to approve leave of absence for sheriffs principal and temporary sheriffs principal. In terms of subsection (2), it is for the sheriff principal to approve leave of absence for a sheriff or summary sheriff. The maximum amount of recreational leave which may be approved for any one judicial officer in a given year is seven weeks (subsection (3)), although this limit may be exceeded with the permission of the Lord President (subsection (4)), which the Lord President may give only if there are special reasons which justify exceeding the limit in the particular case (subsection (5)). There is no limit upon the amount of leave which may be approved for non-recreational purposes (defined in subsection (7) as including, without limitation, sick leave, compassionate leave, and study leave). Subsection (6) allows the Lord President to delegate to another judge of the Court of Session any of the functions conferred upon the Lord President by this section. (So far as leave of absence for sheriffs principal and sheriffs is concerned, the provision made by section 18 is substantially equivalent to that previously provided for in sections 13(2) and (3) and 16(2) and (2A) of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971.)