The Act
3.The provisions of this Act ensure that there is no disruption to the orderly conduct of business in the courts and in those areas of public administration in which the two most senior judges in Scotland have functions, during such time as those judges are incapacitated owing to ill health or either of the offices is vacant.
4.The two most senior judges are the Lord President of the Court of Session and the Lord Justice Clerk. The Lord President is the head of the Court of Session (Scotland’s superior civil court). The Lord Justice Clerk is the next senior judge. There are another 32 judges in the Court of Session. Eight of these judges, together with the Lord President and the Lord Justice Clerk, form the Inner House of the Court. This is essentially, although not exclusively, the appellate branch of the Court.
5.The judges of the Court of Session are also the judges of the High Court of Justiciary, the superior criminal court. The head of the High Court is the Lord Justice General. This office is held by the Lord President. The Lord Justice Clerk is the next senior judge in the High Court.
6.As the law stands there are some actions that can be taken, and decisions that can be made, by the holders of the offices of Lord President, Lord Justice General and Lord Justice Clerk alone. The office of Lord President, in particular, has a wide range of functions conferred on it by statute. Some of these concern matters of court administration, others broader areas of public administration which they hold by virtue of their position as the senior judges in Scotland.