Petition (in Sheriff Court) and consideration of bail

According to the Independent Review of Sheriff and Jury Procedure, “occasionally an accused prosecuted in solemn proceedings will not have appeared on Petition, however the norm is for solemn proceedings to start with the presentation of a Petition to the sheriff within whose district an alleged offence has taken place.

The Petition itself is a document which amongst other things contains the charges facing the accused. The Petition hearing takes place within the Sheriff Court regardless of whether it is envisaged that the case may ultimately be prosecuted in the High Court. As the Petition stage usually takes place early on in the Crown’s investigation the Crown can place the accused on Petition even if it has only one source of evidence at that stage incriminating the accused.”

You can find further information here.