Falkirk Sheriff Court | |
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Location | Main Street, Camelon, Falkirk |
Coordinates | 56°00′13″N3°48′55″W / 56.0036°N 3.8152°W |
Built | 1990 |
Architect | RMJM |
Architectural style(s) | Postmodern style |
Falkirk Sheriff Court is a judicial structure on Main Street in Camelon, a district of Falkirk in Scotland. It operates within the sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife.
Until the late 1980s, hearings took place at the Old Sheriff Court in Hope Street. [1] [2] [3] However, as the number of court cases in Falkirk grew, it became necessary to commission a modern courthouse for criminal matters. The site the court officials selected was open land on the south side of Main Street in Camelon. [4]
The new building was designed by RMJM in the Postmodern style, built in red sandstone at a cost of £6.3 million, [5] and was completed in 1990. [6] [7] [8] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 11 bays facing onto Main Street. The central bay was formed by a semi-circular section which was projected forward. It featured a short flight of steps leading up to three doorways which were recessed behind a semi-circular colonnade supporting an entablature. There were a series of casement windows on the first floor of the section. The wings of five bays each were laid out in a similar style with casement windows recessed behind colonnades on the ground floor and another series of casement windows on the first floor. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate four courtrooms. [9]
The court deals with both criminal and civil cases. There are currently two sheriffs in post at Falkirk Sheriff Court. [10] They sit alone in civil cases and are assisted by a jury of fifteen members selected from the electoral roll in some criminal cases (cases involving solemn proceedings only). The Sheriff Principal is Gillian Wade. [11]
In Scotland a sheriff principal is a judge in charge of a sheriffdom with judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative responsibilities. Sheriffs principal have been part of the judiciary of Scotland since the 11th century. Sheriffs principal were originally appointed by the monarch of Scotland, and evolved into a heritable jurisdiction before appointment was again vested in the Crown and the monarch of the United Kingdom following the passage of the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746.
A district court was the least authoritative type of criminal court of Scotland. The courts operated under summary procedure and dealt primarily with minor criminal offences. The district courts were administered by the district councils established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Following the passage of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 by the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Ministers abolished the district courts and transferred their functions to the justice of the peace courts, which are administered by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and subject to the authority of the Lord President of the Court of Session.
A justice of the peace court is the lowest authoritative type of criminal court in Scotland. The court operates under summary procedure and deals primarily with less serious criminal offences.
The Sheriff Principal of Tayside, Central and Fife is the head of the judicial system of the sheriffdom of Tayside, Central and Fife, one of the six sheriffdoms covering the whole of Scotland. The sheriffdom employs a number of legally qualified sheriffs who are responsible for the hearing of cases in eight Sheriffs Courts held in Alloa, Dundee, Dunfermline, Falkirk, Forfar, Kirkcaldy, Perth, and Stirling. The current Scottish sheriffdoms were created in 1975 when the previous arrangement of 12 sheriffdoms was discontinued.
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