Thursday, December 11th, 2025
X (Appellant) v The Lord Advocate (Respondent) - UKSC/2024/0116
The UK Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in the case of X v Lord Advocate, in which Kay Springham KC and Dominic Scullion appeared (with the Solicitor General for Scotland) for the Lord Advocate. The case concerned whether “the Crown” could be vicariously liable for assaults allegedly committed by a member of the judiciary. The Supreme Court held that the stage-1 test for vicarious liability is not satisfied because the relationship between a sheriff and the Scottish Government is not akin to employment: first, the Scottish Government has no control over a sheriff’s performance of their judicial functions; and secondly (and most crucially) it is a constitutional principle, resting on the separation of powers, that the judiciary is independent of Government.
Link to judgment and other information about the case can be found here.
