 The act was superseded by the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 before it could be invoked and it was repealed when the 2008 act came into force on 1 June 2009.The Act was intended to prevent the business of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary being disrupted by the absence of Scotland's two most senior judges (the Lord President and the Lord Justice Clerk).The Act provided a system whereby the powers and functions of the Lord President could be passed to the Lord Justice Clerk, or those of the Lord Justice Clerk to the next most senior judge.