New sheriff court rules following Children's Hearings Act

The Scottish Court Service has launched a consultation on 'Proposals for Procedural Rules in the Sheriff Court for the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011'.

The new rules are considered necessary following the introduction of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.

The 2011 Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament in November 2010 and given Royal Assent in January 2011. The Act introduced some major reforms to Scotland's children's hearings system, including the abolition of Scotland's 32 local children's panels. These panels were replaced with a single national panel, supported by the new body - Children's Hearings Scotland, responsible for the recruitment and training of the country's 2,500 local panel members.

Key changes in the proposed new Sheriff Court rules include:

• Giving sheriffs the power to make interim compulsory supervision orders and to vary or extend compulsory supervision orders introduced by the Act.
• Allowing witnesses to give evidence by live link, even where the witness is situated outwith Scotland.
• Providing for new appeals to the sheriff against relevant decisions, which include extending the right of appeal to safeguarders, leave to appeal and new appeals by stated case.

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