| Act of Parliament | |
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| 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 [b] |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Treason, etc. Act 1759 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act for reviving and continuing so much of an Act, made in the Twenty-first Year of His present Majesty's Reign, as relates to the more effectual Trial and Punishment of High Treason and Misprision of High Treason, in The Highlands of Scotland; and also for continuing Two other Acts, one made in the Nineteenth Year, and the other made in the Twenty-first Year, of His present Majesty's Reign, so far as they relate to the more effectual disarming The Highlands of Scotland, and for securing the Peace thereof. |
| Citation | 33 Geo. 2. c. 26 |
| Territorial extent | Scotland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 22 May 1760 |
| Commencement | 1 June 1760 [c] |
| Repealed | 15 July 1867 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law Revision Act 1867 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 (21 Geo. 2. c. 19) was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain [d] which applied only to Scotland.
Contents
Section 1 of the act provided 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, [e] Perth, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, [f] Argyll, Forfarshire, Banff, [g] Sutherland, Caithness, Elgine, Ross, and Orkney. Normally a crime had to be tried in the shire where it had been committed.
Section 2 of the provided 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.
Section 3 of the act also provided that His Majesty's Advocate could move the trial to the High Court of Justiciary.
Section 4 of the act that peers had the right to be tried by their peers.
Section 5 of the act provided that sections 1 to 5 of the act expired after seven years, but were later revived again for another seven years in 1760 by the Treason, etc. Act 1759 (33 Geo. 2. c. 26). [1]
Section 12 of the act also began the process of grouping the smaller shires into a single sheriffdom, by creating shared sheriffdoms for:
