A Special Case will shortly be heard in the Court of Session regarding eligibility requirements for applicants for the role of Sheriff, specifically that an applicant ..
(b) at the time of appointment—
(i) is legally qualified, and
(ii) has been so qualified throughout the period of 10 years immediately preceding the appointment.
The issue in question is the eligibility of advocates of less than 10 years call, who prior to devilling left the roll of solicitors and who seek to combine their time spent in both legal roles to meet the minimum ten years requirement.
JABS will consider all such applications, providing the applicant is otherwise eligible to apply for the role of Sheriff. However, we cannot ultimately confirm if such applicants are eligible for recommendation until the outcome of the Special Case is known. Candidates should be aware that JABS may not be able to recommend an individual depending on the outcome of the Special Case.