Justice of the Peace Courts (formerly District Courts).
The Justice of the Peace Court is the first rung in the Court hierarchy in Scotland, dealing with summary criminal matters only. It does not currently deal with any civil cases.
On 8th December 2008, in terms of the Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 2007, the District Courts at Glasgow, Rutherglen and Kirkintilloch, previously operated and managed by Glasgow, South Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire Councils respectively, unified under the management of the Scottish Court Service which also manages the Sheriff, the Court of Session and the High Courts in Scotland.
Further information is available on the Scottish Courts website.
Justices of the Peace and councillors signing duties
Justices of the Peace can sign Warrants and Affidavits Sworn under Oath in respect of persons and addresses within their Sheriffdom. They can also undertake signing and countersigning duties in connection with a range of legal documents, including Statutory Declarations, and can give character references if the Applicant is personally known to them (in the case of Passports for at least 2 years).
For information on becoming a Justice of the Peace please visit www.jpscotland.gov.uk.
From 10th December 2007, local authority councillors in Scotland have been allowed to undertake almost all the same range of signing and countersigning documents as Justices of the Peace, except they are not allowed to sign Warrants or Sworn Affidavits.
Anyone seeking access to a Justice of the Peace for signing services should contact:-
Scottish Court Service
Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin
Justice of the Peace and Stipendiary Magistrate Court
21 St Andrew's Street
Glasgow
G1 5PW
Telephone: 0141-429-8888
Fax: Admin 0141-548-8981
Email: Glasgow@scotcourts.gov.uk