Act of Sederunt

An Act of Sederunt (/səˈdɛrənt/ sə-DERR-ənt; meaning a meeting or sitting of a court) is secondary legislation made by the Court of Session, the supreme civil court of Scotland, to regulate the proceedings of Scottish courts and tribunals hearing civil matters. Originally made under an Act of the Parliament of Scotland of 1532, the modern power to make Acts of Sederunt is largely derived from the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. Since 2013, draft Acts have also been prepared by the Scottish Civil Justice Council and submitted to the Court of Session for approval.: Following Scottish devolution and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, Acts of Sederunt are made as Scottish Statutory Instruments. Previously, Acts were made as United Kingdom Statutory Instruments, and before that were a separate class of legislation.: The Court of Session—more accurately the College of Justice—was established by the Parliament of Scotland under James V in 1532. The Act of Parliament establishing the Court, later named the College of Justice Act 1532, provided that the Court would have 'such rules and statutes as shall please the king's grace to make and give to them' and 'ordain the same to have effect in all points and processes, sentences and decreets shall have the same strength, force and effect as the decreets of the lords of session had in all times bygone.' That is, that the rules of the Court of Session were to be made by the King and to have the same force as the decrees of the Lords of Session had before. Although established in 1532, it wasn't until the passing of the College of Justice Act 1540 (originally titled Ratification of the institution of the college of justice) that the Court of Session gained the power to make law through Acts of Sederunt. The Act granted the Lord President, the Vice-President, and the Senators of the College of Justice the 'power to make such acts, statutes and ordinance as they shall think expedient for ordering of processes and the hasty expedition of justice.' The Courts Act 1672 (originally Act concerning the regulation of the judicatories) created the High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court of Scotland, by attaching five of the Lords of Session to the Lord Justice General and Lord Justice Clerk. The Courts Act also provided that 'the judges of that court regulate the inferior officers thereof, and order every other thing concerning the said court,' and so created the distinction between Acts of Sederunt and Acts of Adjournal which continues to exist to this day. Following a 19th-century reforming of the High Court of Justiciary, all Lords of Session were ex officio Lords Commissioners of Justiciary, instead of the original five ordained by the Courts Act.: Although that reformation was repealed, its effect was replicated by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, which provided that the Lord President of the Court of Session was also to hold the office of Lord Justice General.: The powers of the Court of Session to make Acts of Sederunt were partially consolidated by the Administration of Justice (Scotland) Act 1933, which also made significant changes to the structure and operations of the Court. One of these significant changes was the establishing of a Rules Council, composed of the Lord President as well as Court of Session judges and practising lawyers, to propose Acts of Sederunt to the Court. The Act also created a Sheriff Court Rules Council, to carry out the same functions but in relation to the sheriff courts.: The Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971 enabled the Court of Session to regulate the sheriff courts and Sheriff Appeal Court when they heard civil matters. The Act also dissolved the Sheriff Court Rules Council created by the Administration of Justice (Scotland) Act 1933, and created a new Sheriff Court Rules Council to continually review sheriff court procedure and submit to the Court of Session draft Acts of Sederunt for regulating sheriff courts.: