Section 34 – Suspension
75.This section makes provision for suspension of judicial office holders where the Lord president considers it necessary for the purpose of maintaining public confidence in the judiciary. Subsection (4) provides that the suspension would be done by the Lord Justice Clerk if the Lord President is unavailable, or where both are unavailable by the senior judge of the Inner House. Such suspension does not affect a judicial office holder’s salary. An example of the type of situation in which this might be used is where an alleged incident of a serious nature involving a judicial office holder is reported widely in the press.
76.This power is separate from the suspension provisions in Chapter 5 of Part 2 of the Act. Suspension under this section is not dependent upon a tribunal having been convened.
