Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) is an independent body corporate established by the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008.
Our function is to provide administrative support to Scottish courts and tribunals and to the judiciary of courts, including the:
- High Court of Justiciary
- Court of Session
- Sheriff Courts
- Justice of the Peace Courts
- Office of the Public Guardian
- Accountant of Court.
We also provide the staff and administrative support to the Scottish Civil Justice Council and the Scottish Sentencing Council.
We are accountable to a judicially-led Board and, as a public service, are trusted to spend public funds – for which we are accountable to the Scottish Parliament. Our purpose is to support justice. We operate as part of Scotland’s justice system, which consists of a range of independent bodies, working together to promote justice, fairness and the rule of law.
We have a presence in many of Scotland’s communities where court and tribunal business is conducted daily. Our estate is made up of courts, vulnerable witness suites, tribunals and offices, many of which have listed status (special architectural or historic interest). We operate from 51 distinct locations across Scotland’s six sheriffdoms, together with a number of remote video witness sites. Tribunals also make use of some 70 further venues across Scotland for hearings.