District Court - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

In Scotland, District Courts were introduced in 1975 as replacement for Burgh Police Courts; they dealt with the most minor crimes. They were run by the local authorities. Each court comprised one or more Justices of the Peace (lay magistrates) who sat alone or in threes with a qualified legal assessor as convener or clerk of court.

They handled many cases of breach of the peace, drunkenness, minor assaults, petty theft, and offences under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.

District Court operated under summary procedure and could not impose a fine in excess of £2,500 or sentence an offender to more than 60 days in prison. In practice, most offences were dealt with by a fine.

In Glasgow where the volume of business requires the employment of three solicitors as "stipendiary magistrates" who sit in place of the lay Justices. The Stipendiary Magistrates' court has the same sentencing power as the summary Sheriff Court.

District Courts in Scotland were abolished and replaced with Justice of the Peace Courts under the provisions of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007. The Justice of the Peace Courts are managed by the Scottish Court Service. Responsibility for the Courts was transferred from the local authorities in a rolling programme of court unification which concluded in February 2010. District Courts were replaced by JP Courts in sheriffdoms as follows-

• Sheriffdom of Lothian and Borders, 10 March 2008
• Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highlands and Islands, 2 June 2008
• Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin, 8 December 2008
• Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife, 23 February 2009
• Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde, 14 December 2009
• Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries & Galloway, 22 February 2010