sheriffdom presided over by a single sheriff principal. The sheriffdom boundaries were amended and the sheriffdoms redescribed by the Sheriffdoms (Alteration of Boundaries) Order 1996, which replaced the 1974 Order. The only change to the boundaries was to move an area around Chryston from the sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin to the sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway. Remit and jurisdiction General duties The work of a sheriff principal is partly judicial and partly administrative, consisting broadly of the following: conventional judicial duties in the Sheriff courts; judicial and quasi-judicial work arising under various statutes; administrative functions in relation to the courts within a sheriff principal’s sheriffdom; powers of appointment; miscellaneous advisory and consultative functions; ceremonial functions. Judicial A sheriff principal sometimes sits in criminal courts or conducts major fatal accident inquiries. Following the passage and commencement of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 by the Scottish Parliament sheriffs principal have sat ex officio as appeal sheriffs in the Sheriff Appeal Court with jurisdiction over both civil and criminal appeals. In terms of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1971, as reaffirmed by the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, sheriffs principal are charged with a number of duties in respect of the courts for which they are responsible, including in particular a duty “to secure the speedy and efficient disposal of business in the sheriff courts of that sheriffdom”. Administrative In terms of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 all of the sheriffs principal are Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses and serve on the Northern Lighthouse Board. The Sheriff Principal of Lothian and Borders is Sheriff of Chancery (disposes of petitions for rights of succession to land and intestate estates; see Chancery (Scotland)). A sheriff principal might serve as member of the Scottish Civil Justice Council, the Advisory Council on Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, the Criminal Justice Forum, the Security Service Tribunal, the Intelligence Services Tribunal, and various other bodies. Current sheriffs principal Order of precedence By virtue of an Order of Precedence established by King Edward VII a sheriff principal, in his or her own sheriffdom, ranks in precedence immediately after the Royal family. For that reason sheriffs principal are from time to time expected, and are occasionally commanded, to be present at Royal and other ceremonial functions within their sheriffdoms. See also Sheriff court Courts of Scotland Scots law Sheriff Sheriff-substitute Senator of the College of Justice External links Scottish