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Regality
A regality was a territorial jurisdiction in old Scots law which might be created by the King or Queen only, by granting lands to a subject ''in liberam regalitatem'', and the tract of land over which such a right extended. A lord of regality had a civil jurisdiction equal to that of the monarch's sheriff, and more extensive criminal jurisdiction, equivalent to that of the High Court of Justiciary (except for treason). A regality was a superior jurisdiction to a barony and might be exercised over baronies within the regality. The jurisdiction was exercised by the regality court, usually presided over by the bailie or his deputy, and composed of the suitors of court, who held lands by suit of court. Initially regalities were a part of the system of government, delegated jurisdiction, but from the 14th century, the lords of regality frequently sought to usurp royal authority and establish semi-independent domains. In the 15th century, regalities again became a means of governing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burgh Of Regality
A burgh of regality is a type of Scottish town. They were distinct from royal burghs as they were granted to "lords of regality", leading noblemen. (In distinction, burghs of barony were granted to a tenant-in-chief, a landowner who held his estates directly from the crown, and had fewer civil and criminal law powers). They were created between 1450 and 1707, and conferred upon the landowner varying trading rights, such as the right to hold weekly markets or to trade overseas. Burghs of regality possessed higher jurisdictional rights ''in liberam regalitatem'', amounting to complete criminal jurisdiction except for treason. These rights were abolished by the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746, after which the Burghs enjoyed only the jurisdictional rights of burghs of barony. The titles are redundant today but remain in descriptive use. See also * Burgh, Borough, and Ancient borough * List of burghs in Scotland * Kilwinning Abbey * Regality A regality was a territori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Territorial Jurisdiction
A jurisdiction is an area with a set of laws under the control of a system of courts or government entity which are different from neighbouring areas. Each state in a federation such as Australia, Germany and the United States forms a separate jurisdiction. However, sometimes certain laws in a federal state are uniform across the constituent states and enforced by a set of federal courts; with a result that the federal state forms a single jurisdiction for that purpose. It is also possible for a jurisdiction to prosecute for crimes committed somewhere outside its jurisdiction, once the perpetrator returns. In some cases, a citizen of another jurisdiction outside its own can be extradited to a jurisdiction where the crime is illegal, even if it was not committed in that jurisdiction. Unitary states are usually single jurisdictions, but the United Kingdom is a notable exception; it has three separate jurisdictions due to its three separate legal systems. China also has separat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scots Law
Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland law, it is one of the three legal systems of the United Kingdom.Stair, General Legal Concepts (Reissue), para. 4 (Online) Retrieved 2011-11-29 Early Scots law before the 12th century consisted of the different legal traditions of the various cultural groups who inhabited the country at the time, the Gaels in most of the country, with the Britons and Anglo-Saxons in some districts south of the Forth and with the Norse in the islands and north of the River Oykel. The introduction of feudalism from the 12th century and the expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland established the modern roots of Scots law, which was gradually influenced by other, especially Anglo-Norman and continental legal traditions. Although there was some indirect Roman la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly translated to English as ''sherif''. Description Historically, a sheriff was a legal official with responsibility for a shire, the term being a contraction of " shire reeve" (Old English ). In British English, the political or legal office of a sheriff, term of office of a sheriff, or jurisdiction of a sheriff, is called a shrievalty in England and Wales, and a sheriffdom in Scotland. In modern times, the specific combination of legal, political and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country. * In England, Northern Ireland, or Wales, a sheriff (or high sheriff) is a ceremonial county or city official. * In Scotland, sheriffs are judges. * In the Republic of Ireland, in some counties and in the cities of Dubli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Court Of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Court building in the Old Town in Edinburgh, or in dedicated buildings in Glasgow and Aberdeen. The High Court sometimes sits in various smaller towns in Scotland, where it uses the local sheriff court building. As an appeal court, the High Court sits only in Edinburgh. On one occasion the High Court of Justiciary sat outside Scotland, at Zeist in the Netherlands during the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, as the Scottish Court in the Netherlands. At Zeist the High Court sat both as a trial court, and an appeal court for the initial appeal by Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. The president of the High Court is the Lord Justice General, who holds office '' ex officio'' by virtue of being Lord President of the Court of Session, and his depute is the Lor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state. A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor. Historically, in common law countries, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife or that of a master by his servant. Treason (i.e. disloyalty) against one's monarch was known as ''high treason'' and treason against a lesser superior was ''petty treason''. As jurisdictions around the world abolished petty treason, "treason" came to refer to what was historically known as high treason. At times, the term ''traitor'' has been used as a political epithet, regardless of any verifiable treasonable action. In a civil war or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Feudal Barony
In Scotland, a baron or baroness is the head of a feudal barony, also known as a prescriptive barony. This used to be attached to a particular piece of land on which was situated the ''caput'' (Latin for "head") or essence of the barony, normally a building, such as a castle or manor house. Accordingly, the owner of the piece of land containing the ''caput'' was called a baron or baroness. According to Grant, there were around 350 identifiable local baronies in Scotland by the early fifteenth century and these could mostly be mapped against local parish boundaries. The term baron was in general use from the thirteenth century to describe what would have been known in England as a knight of the shire.Alexander Grant, "Franchises North of the Border: Baronies and Regalities in Medieval Scotland", Chapter 9, Michael Prestwich. ed., ''Liberties and Identities in Medieval Britain and Ireland'' (Boydell Press: Woodbridge, 2008) The 1896 edition of ''Green's Encyclopaedia of the Law o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bailie
A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate (see bailiff). Baillies appointed the high constables in Edinburgh, Leith and Perth. Modern bailies exist in Scottish local councils, with the position being a courtesy title and appointees often requested to provide support to the lord provost or provost - the ceremonial and civic head of the council - in their various engagements. History The name derives from Old French and used to be synonymous with provost, with several officials holding this role often at the appointment of the Church. The jurisdiction of a bailie is called a ''bailiary'' (alt. ''bailiery''). The office of bailie was abolished in law in Scotland in 1975, and today the position of bailie is a courtesy title. Use * Aberdeen City Council - appoints five bailies. * Dundee City Council - appoints five bailies. The posit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746
The Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 (20 Geo. II c. 43) was an Act of Parliament passed in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745 abolishing judicial rights held by Scots heritors. These were a significant source of power, especially for clan chiefs since it gave them a large measure of control over their tenants. The position of Sheriff-principal originated in the 13th century and still exists in modern Scotland. Originally appointed by the Crown, over the centuries the majority had become hereditary, the holders appointing legal professionals known as Sheriff-deputes to do the work. The Act returned control of these to the Crown."Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions Act." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal History Of Scotland
The history of Scots law traces the development of Scots law from its early beginnings as a number of different custom systems among Scotland's early cultures to its modern role as one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. The various historic sources of Scots law, including custom, feudal law, canon law, Roman law and English law have created a hybrid or mixed legal system, which shares elements with English law and Northern Irish law but also has its own unique legal institutions and sources. Origins The nature of Scots law before the 12th century is largely speculative but most likely was a folk-right system applying a specific customary legal tradition to a certain culture inhabiting a certain corresponding area at the time, e.g. Brehon law for the Gaels (Scoti and men of Galloway and Ayrshire), Welsh law for lowland Britons of Yr Hen Ogledd, Udal law for the Norse of Caithness and the islands, and Anglo-Saxon custom in Lothian and Borders. The earlie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feudalism In Scotland
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships that were derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. Although it is derived from the Latin word ''feodum'' or ''feudum'' (fief), which was used during the Medieval period, the term ''feudalism'' and the system which it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people who lived during the Middle Ages. The classic definition, by François Louis Ganshof (1944), François Louis Ganshof (1944). ''Qu'est-ce que la féodalité''. Translated into English by Philip Grierson as ''Feudalism'', with a foreword by F. M. Stenton, 1st ed.: New York and London, 1952; 2nd ed: 1961; 3rd ed.: 1976. describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations which existed am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
