HL Deb 02 December 1993 vol 550 cc48-50WA
Lord Macaulay of Bragar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (a) on how many occasions use has been made of temporary judges in the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session in Scotland to date;
  2. (b) what type of cases have been allocated to temporary judges in each court;
  3. (c) to specify the reasons why use was made of temporary judges in place of permanent judges and, in particular, on how many occasions was this due to the illness or unavailability for some other reason of a permanent judge;
  4. (d) what the costs have been for the use of temporary judges, including the cost of providing temporary sheriffs in place of permanent sheriffs, when the latter were sitting as temporary judges in the High Court of Justiciary or the Court of Session; and
  5. (e) whether any representations have been made to them against the use of full-time sheriffs as temporary judges in the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session and, if representations have been made, from whom they have been received; and

Whether, in scheduling the programmes of work for the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session, provision has been made for the use of temporary judges and, if so, to specify:

  1. (a) in which courts and on which dates the use of temporary judges has been scheduled;
  2. (b) the reasons why, if it be the case they have been scheduled, it is necessary to schedule their use; and
  3. (c) on which dates their use is scheduled on the basis of the illness or unavailability of full-time judges and to specify which full-time judges are deemed not to be available on dates for which the use of temporary judges is scheduled, if it has been.

Lord Rodger of Earlsferry

The assignment of temporary judges to particular courts and to particular types of case is not a matter for Her Majesty's Government but for the Lord President of the Court of Session.

Information on the utilisation of temporary judges and the estimated fee costs is as follows:

Financial year number of sitting days Costs (£)
1991–92 177 49,531
1992–93 225 69,050
1993–941 211 54,358
1 April to September

The information provided on costs includes fees paid to temporary judges and the fee costs of providing temporary sheriffs in place of permanent sheriffs when the latter were sitting as temporary judges.

No representations have been received by Her Majesty's Government against the use of full-time sheriffs as temporary judges.