The Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 (21 Geo.II c.19) was an Act of the Parliament of Great BritainThe Act was actually passed in 1748, but is listed under 1747 because under the common law Acts of Parliament took effect retrospectively from the beginning of the session in which they were passed, which in this case was 1747: see the article

Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 (33 Geo. 3 c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain which requires that the clerk of the Parliaments endorse every act of Parliament with the date on which the act passed a ...

for the explanation as to why. However this Act was expressed to take effect from 1 April 1748. which applied only to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It stated that anyone who was prosecuted on or after 1 April 1748 for

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 diplo ...

misprision of treason Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by someone who knows a treason is being or is about to be committed but does not report it to a p ...

could be tried anywhere in Scotland if the crime had been committed in any of the shires of Dunbartain,

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Kincardine,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Inverness,

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradi ...

Cromarty Cromarty (; gd, Cromba, ) is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, it is seaward from ...

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

, Forfarshire, Banff, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgine, Ross, and Orkney. Normally a crime had to be tried in the shire where it had been committed. The Act also said that in such a trial, the jurors could come from adjoining counties, instead of (as would otherwise be the case) the county where the trial was held. It also provided that

His Majesty's Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...

could move the trial to the

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 Cour ...

, and that peers had the right to be tried by their peers. These provisions expired after seven years, but were later revived again for another seven years in 1760 by another Act, 33 Geo.II c.26.''Statutes at Large'' vol. XXIII (1766)

Notes

References

*The Scots Statutes Revised. W Green and Sons. 1899. Volume 1. Page 80. *The Public General Statutes Affecting Scotland. William Blackwood and Sons. Edinburgh. 1876. Volume 1. Page
121
and 122. *''Statutes at Large'', vol. XIX, Danby Pickering, Cambridge University Press, 1765. *Walker. A Legal History of Scotland. W Green. 1988
Volume 6
Pages 356 and 454. 2004
Volume 7
Page 633. *Robson and Rodger. The Spaces of Justice: The Architecture of the Scottish Court. Farleigh Dickinson University Press. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. 2018. Page
34
and 36.

Notes

References

See also