SCOTTISH LAW

the legal practices and institutions of Scotland. At the union of the parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707, the legal systems of the two countries were very dissimilar. Scotland, mainly in the preceding century, had adopted as a guide much of the Roman law that had been developed by the jurists of Holland and France. But it is a fallacy to suppose that the law of Scotland is founded on the law of Rome: the Scots only turned to Roman, or civil, law when there was a gap in their own common or customary law. There is, however, a considerable infusion of civil law, not least in legal nomenclature and in the emphasis on principle rather than precedent. Perhaps the most important distinction is that Scotland, unlike England, did not separate the administration of equity and law. The Scottish conception of equity differs from the English system, which is parallel to the common law. The Scottish conception instead consists of a few fairly simple rules aimed at supplementing the law in order to prevent hardship. It also relegates certain remedies to the class of equitable remedies, of which the court has a large discretion to grant or withhold. The word equity in the law of Scotland has always retained its original meaning. The Scottish outlook upon this whole topic places Scots law clearly alongside the continental civil law and not the English system. the legal practices and institutions of Scotland. At the union of the parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707, the legal systems of the two countries were very dissimilar. Scotland, mainly in the preceding century, had adopted as a guide much of the Roman, or civil, law as developed by the jurists of Holland and France, when there was a gap in the Scots' own common, or customary, law. In the period since the union there has been much assimilation of English law by the Scottish legal system. One reason is that much of the existing law of Scotland depends on statutes applicable to both countries. The House of Lords, consisting in its legal aspect until 1876 exclusively of English lawyers acting as the supreme court of appeal for Scotland, had a tendency to apply English law in Scottish appeals. The influence of text writers, some of whom have tended to treat English and Scottish law together, and the citation of English authorities in court have also had considerable effect. The greatest assimilation of English statutes has been in the field of mercantile law. Since the Act of Union the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the Scottish courts has remained separate and distinct from that of England. The supreme civil court is the Court of Session, which is composed of 18 judges and sits in the old Parliament House in Edinburgh. It is divided into an Outer House, consisting of 13 judges, and an Inner House, consisting of two divisions of 4 judges. Each division sits as a court of appeal to hear appeals from the Outer House or the sheriff courts. Appeal from the decision of this court is heard by the House of Lords. The supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary, of which the judges are the same as those of the Court of Session. It sits not only in Edinburgh but also on circuit in certain cities and burghs. Trials before the High Court are always trials by jury, the Scottish jury consisting of 15 persons in criminal cases. The verdict may be returned by a majority and may in cases of reasonable doubt be one of not proven. Since 1926 the High Court, sitting as a court of criminal appeal, has been empowered to hear appeals in certain cases tried by jury in either the High Court or the sheriff courts. There is no appeal in criminal cases to the House of Lords. Scotland is divided for local judicial purposes into six sheriffdoms, for each of which the crown appoints a sheriff principal and a number of sheriffs. The sheriffs principal or sheriffs are judges presiding over the sheriff courts, a Scottish institution of great antiquity, and are mainly concerned with the hearing of appeals in civil cases and the performance of certain administrative duties. The sheriff court has a civil jurisdiction virtually concurrent with that of the Court of Session, and it also has a wide jurisdiction in criminal cases. Minor criminal offenses may be tried in the district court, which is usually presided over by justices of the peace appointed by the secretary of state. Responsibility for the institution of criminal proceedings in the High Court, the sheriff court, and the district court rests with the lord advocate, who is assisted in this function by the solicitor general, 12 advocates depute, and procurators fiscal stationed throughout Scotland. The Crown Office in Edinburgh, of which the permanent head is the crown agent, is the department concerned with this work. The grand jury is not used in Scotland.