solemn procedure at the sheriff court. The Sheriff Appeal Court was established on 22 September 2015 to deal with appeals against conviction and sentence in summary proceedings before the deal with criminal appeals. The Bench generally comprises three Appeal Sheriffs when considering appeals against conviction, and two appeal sheriffs when considering appeals against sentence. A single Appeal Sheriff hears appeals against bail decisions made by a sheriff or justices of the peace. The criminal Court is based at the courthouse at Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, and will initially sit on two consecutive days each fortnight. Substantive criminal appeals will be heard on Tuesdays and appeals against sentence on Wednesdays. Sheriff courts The sheriff courts are the main criminal courts; they sits locally in sheriff courts throughout Scotland organised in the six sheriffdoms. The procedure followed may either be solemn procedure, where the Sheriff sits with a jury of fifteen; or summary procedure, where the sheriff sits alone in a bench trial. From 10 December 2007, the maximum penalty that may be imposed in summary cases is 12 months imprisonment or a fine, and in solemn cases 5 years imprisonment or an unlimited fine. A higher sentence in solemn cases may be imposed upon remittance of the case to the High Court of Justiciary. Justice of the Peace Courts The Justice of the Peace Court is a criminal court which sits locally under summary procedure, where the Justice sits alone or in some areas as a bench of three. Justices are lay magistrates who as advised by a legally qualified clerk, known as the legal adviser. The court handles a variety of minor common law crimes such as breach of the peace, theft and assault, as well as statutory offences such as vandalism, road traffic offences and other public order offences. The maximum penalty which can be imposed at this level is 60 days' imprisonment or a fine up to £2,500. Specialist courts Scotland has several courts with specialist jurisdictions. Children's Hearings The specialist system of Children's Hearings handles the majority of cases involving allegations of criminal conduct involving persons under 16 in Scotland. These tribunals have wide-ranging powers to issue supervision orders for the person referred to them by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. Serious crimes, at the direction of the Procurator Fiscal, are still dealt with in the usual criminal courts. Court of the Lord Lyon The Court of the Lord