The Court of Session (Scottish Gaelic: Cùirt an t-Seisein, Scots: Coort o Session) is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal.
The court has a largely coextensive jurisdiction with the Sheriff Court—the other Scottish civil court, which sits locally—with the choice of court being given first to the pursuer; but the majority of complex or high value cases are brought in the Court of Session. Legal aid, administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, is available to some persons for cases of the Court of Session.
The Court of Session is notionally a unitary collegiate court, with all judges other than the Lord President and the Lord Justice Clerk holding the same rank and title: Senator of the College of Justice and also Lord or Lady of Council and Session. There are thirty-four judges (four of whom are women), in addition to a number of temporary judges—who are typically either sheriffs or advocates in private practice. The judges sit also in the High Court of Justiciary, where the Lord President is named, as president of that court, the Lord Justice General.
The Court of Session Act 1810 divided the Court into the Outer House and the Inner House. The first is the junior part of the Court of Session and is a court of first instance. The second is an appeal court for civil cases as well as a court of first instance.
Read more about Court Of Session: History, Structure, Function
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