Act of Sederunt

An Act of Sederunt (səˈdɛrənt ; meaning a meeting or sitting of a court) is secondary legislation made by the Court of Session, the supreme civil court of Scotland, to regulate the proceedings of Scottish courts and tribunals hearing civil matters. Originally made under an Act of the Parliament of Scotland of 1532, the modern power to make Acts of Sederunt is largely derived from the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. Since 2013, draft Acts have also been prepared by the Scottish Civil Justice Council and submitted to the Court of Session for approval. Following Scottish devolution and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, Acts of Sederunt are made as Scottish statutory instruments. Previously, Acts were made as United Kingdom statutory instruments, and before that were a separate class of legislation. The Court of Session—more accurately the College of Justice—was established by the Parliament of Scotland under James V in 1532. The Act of Parliament establishing the Court, later named the College of Justice Act 1532, provided that the Court would have "such... rules and statutes as shall please the king's grace to make and give to them" and "ordain[ed] the same to have effect in all points and [that the] processes, sentences and decreets shall have the same strength, force and effect as the decreets of the lords of session had in all times bygone." That is, that the rules of the Court of Session were to be made by the King and to have the same force as the decrees of the Lords of Session had before. Although established in 1532, it was not until the passing of the College of Justice Act 1540 (originally titled Ratification of the institution of the college of justice) that the Court of Session gained the power to make law through Acts of Sederunt. The Act granted the Lord President, the Vice-President, and the Senators of the College of Justice the "power to make such acts, statutes and ordinance as they shall think expedient for ordering of processes and the hasty expedition of justice.