Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747

The Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 (21 Geo. 2. c. 19) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain^{[n 1]} which applied only to Scotland. It stated that anyone who was prosecuted on or after 1 April 1748 for treason or misprision of treason could be tried anywhere in Scotland if the crime had been committed in any of the shires of Dunbartain, Stirling,^[2] Perth, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty,^[3] Argyll, Forfarshire, Banff,^[4] Sutherland, Caithness, Elgine, Ross, and Orkney.^[5] 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.^[6]

Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747^[1]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act for the more effectual Trial and Punishment of High Treason and Misprision of High Treason, in the Highlands of Scotland; and for abrogating the Practice of taking down the Evidence in Writing in certain Criminal Prosecutions; and for making some further Regulations relating to Sheriffs Depute and Stewarts Depute, and their Substitutes; and for other Purposes therein mentioned
Citation	21 Geo. 2. c. 19
Territorial extent	Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	13 May 1748
Commencement	1 April 1748
Other legislation
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1867 Statute Law Revision Act 1887 Statute Law Revision Act 1888
Text of statute as originally enacted

Treason Act 1760
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Citation	33 Geo. 2. c. 26

It also provided that His Majesty's Advocate could move the trial to the High Court of Justiciary,^[7] and that peers had the right to be tried by their peers.^[8] These provisions expired after seven years,^[9] but were later revived again for another seven years in 1760 by another Act, 33 Geo. 2. c. 26.^[10]

The act also began the process of grouping the smaller shires into a single sheriffdom, by creating shared sheriffdoms for:^[11]

• Fife and Kinross
• Stirling and Clackmannan
• Argyll and Bute
• Elgin and Nairn
• Sutherland and Caithness
• Ross and Cromarty

Notes

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