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Smart V HM Advocate
''Smart v Her Majesty's Advocate'is a Scots criminal law case relating to consent as a defence to assault. The High Court of Justiciary held that if the assault was made with an evil intent, consent could not negate it. The case saw the accused, William Smart, who was charged with assault, lodging the defence that his victim Issac Wilkie has consented to a "square go". Therefore Smart could not be charged with assaulting Wilkie or any injuries arising from the fight. Facts In 1974, Smart faced trial at Paisley Sheriff Court, where Sheriff McLean and a jury were in charge. Smart put forth a succinct two-part argument. Initially, he asserted that the victim had willingly participated in the fight and comprehended the potential risks, thus challenging the grounds for an assault charge. Additionally, he claimed to have acted in self-defense. Regrettably, this argument was dismissed due to a lack of substantial evidence. The central unresolved issue revolved around whether consen ... [...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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scots Law Times
The ''Scots Law Times'' is a commercially published law reports service and law magazine for Scotland, publishing over 1400 pages of reports each year. Published weekly during court term by W. Green, the ''Scots Law Times'' covers every Scottish court, civil and criminal, from the Sheriff Courts to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (formerly the House of Lords). It is considered the most authoritative series of law reports in Scotland, after the Sessions Cases. Since 2000, the ''Scots Law Times'' reports have been prepared by a specialist legal team working online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ..., with court opinions downloaded from the Scottish Court Service website. Reports of leading cases can therefore be published very shortly after a decision is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Justice Clerk
The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorrian who had been the first female to hold the office. History In modern times, most judges appointed as Lord Justice Clerk later become Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord Clerk Register, the status of the office increased over time and the Justice-Clerk came to claim a seat on the Bench by practice and custom. This was recognised by the Privy Council of Scotland in 1663 and the Lord Justice Clerk became the effective head of the reformed High Court of Justiciary in 1672 when the court was reconstituted. The Lord Justice Clerk now rarely presides at criminal trials in the High Court, with most of their time be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley
John Thomas Wheatley, Baron Wheatley, (17 January 1908 – 28 July 1988) was a Scottish Labour politician and judge. Biography Wheatley was born on 17 January 1908 in Shettleston, Glasgow, the third and youngest child of Janet (1877–1951), a pupil teacher and daughter of Peter Murphy, a labourer from Belfast, and Patrick Wheatley (1875–1937), sometime miner and later publisher, who was born in County Waterford. He was educated at St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow, Mount St Mary's College near Sheffield, and the University of Glasgow. He was admitted as an advocate in 1932. He served in the Royal Artillery and the Judge Advocate Generals' Branch during World War II. As an advocate, he appeared before the Court of Session in his military uniform. As a young man he played football for Shettleston F.C. He was an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate for Bute and North Ayrshire in 1945 and for Glasgow Bridgeton in 1946, where he was defeated by the Independent Labour Par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scots Law
Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Irish 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 Scots law recognises four sources of law: legislation, legal precedent, specific academic writings, and custom. Legislation affecting Scotland and Scots law is passed by the Scottish Parliament on all areas of devolved responsibility, and the United Kingdom Parliament on reserved matters. Some legislation passed by the pre-1707 Parliament of Scotland is still also valid. History of Scots law, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scots Criminal Law
Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mischief, and public order offences including mobbing and breach of the peace. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statutes of the UK Parliament with some areas of criminal law, such as misuse of drugs and traffic offences appearing identical on both sides of Border country, the Border. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statute books of the Scottish Parliament such as the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (2009 asp 9) and Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 (2007 asp 11) which only apply to Scotland. In fact, the Scots requirement of Corroboration in Scots law, corroboration in criminal matters changes the practical prosecution of crimes derived from the same enactment. Corroboration is not required in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consent (criminal Law)
In criminal law, consent may be used as an excuse and prevent the defendant from incurring liability for what was done. Defenses against criminal liability A defense against criminal liability may arise when a defendant can argue that, because of consent, there was no crime (e.g., arguing that permission was given to use an automobile, so it was not theft or taken without owner's consent). But public policy requires courts to lay down limits on the extent to which citizens are allowed to consent or are to be bound by apparent consent given. As an application of '' parens patriae'', for example, minors cannot consent to having sexual intercourse under a specified age even though the particular instance of statutory rape might be a "victimless" offense. In the case of adults, there are similar limits imposed on their capacity where the state deems the issue to be of sufficient significance. Thus, for example, an individual domiciled in a common law state cannot give conse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criminal Defenses
In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ''burden'' before a tribunal. However, in many jurisdictions, the entire burden to prove a crime is on the ''prosecution'', which also must prove the ''absence'' of these defenses, where implicated. In other words, in many jurisdictions the absence of these so-called defenses is treated as an element of the crime. So-called defenses may provide partial or total refuge from punishment. Types of defenses in a court of law Mental disorder (insanity) Insanity or ''mental disorder'' (Australia and Canada), may negate the ''intent'' of any crime, although it pertains only to those crimes having an ''intent'' element. A variety of rules have been advanced to define what, precisely, constitutes criminal ''insanity''. The most common definiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assault
In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Additionally, assault is a criminal act in which a person intentionally causes fear of physical harm or offensive contact to another person. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon and can range from physical violence to threats of violence. Assault is frequently referred to as an attempt to commit battery (crime), battery, which is the deliberate use of physical Force (law), force against another person. The deliberate inflicting of fear, apprehension, or terror is another definition of assault that can be found in several legal systems. Depending on the severity of the offense, assault may result in a fine, imprisonment, or even death. Generally, the common law definitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Street Fighting
Street fighting or street combat is hand-to-hand combat in public places between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g., a street), and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or even death. Some street fights can be gang related. A typical situation involves two individuals arguing in a bar, during which dispute one suggests stepping outside, where the fight commences. It is often possible to avoid the fight by withdrawing from the situation; whereas in self-defense, a person is actively trying to escape the confrontation, using force if necessary to ensure their own safety. In some martial arts communities, street fighting and self-defense are often considered synonymous. __TOC__ History Evidence for human fighting goes back 430,000 years in Spain, where a fossil skull was found with two fractures apparently caused by the same object, implying an intentional lethal attack. Another record of early human fighting is one that happene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paisley Sheriff Court
Paisley Sheriff Court is a municipal structure in St James Street, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The complex, which was the headquarters of Renfrewshire County Council and is currently used as a courthouse, is a Category A listed building. History Court hearings were originally held in the tolbooth in Hairst Street in Renfrew but were transferred to the tolbooth at the junction of High Street and Moss Street in Paisley in the mid-16th century. The tolbooth, which was rebuilt in 1757 and then demolished in 1821, was replaced by the old County Buildings on the east side of County Square. This was a castellated building, built at a cost of £28,000, which was completed in 1820. By the 1880s the building in County Square was deemed too small and it was decided to erect a new courthouse on the north side of St James Street. The new building was designed by William Clarke and George Bell in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1885. The design invol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Gordon
Sir Gerald Henry Gordon (born 17 June 1929) is a Scottish lawyer who is the editor of ''Scottish Criminal Case Reports'' and ''Renton and Brown's Criminal Procedure'', and author of ''The Criminal Law of Scotland''. Previous appointments Gordon was a Sheriff from 1976 to 1999 and a Temporary Judge at the High Court until June 2004. He was Professor of Scots law at the University of Edinburgh from 1972 to 1976 and Head of Department of Criminal Law and Criminology there from 1965 to 1972. He practised as an Advocate from 1953 to 1959 and was Procurator Fiscal Depute from 1960 to 1965. SCCRC Gordon was a Member of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) from its inception in 1999 until 2009. During this time, the SCCRC conducted a review of the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial. Honours and awards Gordon was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 Birthday Honours and knighted in 2000. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
