said commission; and the said sheriffs shall in virtue of said. precepts give notice to all sheriffs, justices of the peace, chief constables, ministers and officers of the said counties, to do and execute such things as shall be required of them; for all which purposes, and for performing whatever else that may be required of them by the said commission, the warrant of any such sheriff or his substitute shall be equally good and effectual within the said several counties of which he is hereby declared to be sheriff, as if such warrant had applied only to the particular county over which the jurisdiction of such sheriff in other respects extends: Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall be held to apply to trials of high treason or misprision of high treason, save and except in so far as relates to the union of counties hereinbefore made.

XXII. And be it enacted, That an act passed in the third year of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An act to allow peremptory challenge of jurors in criminal trials in Scotland, shall be held as repealed from and after the 1st day of January 1826, when this act, and the several clauses, provisions and regulations herein contained, shall commence and take effect.

This act is amended by 7. of Geo. IV. cap. S, in so far as relates to the qualification of Special Jurors, which recites act 6. Geo. IV. cap. 22, and 55. Geo. III. cap. 42, and declares,

That every person residing within any county or stewartry in Scotland, who shall be infeft in and possessed of lands and heritages in any part of Scotland yielding the sum of L. 100 Sterling of real rent per annum or upwards at the time, and also every person residing within any county or stewartry in Scotland who shall be possessed of personal property to the amount of L.1000 Sterling or upwards, shall be qualified to serve as a special juror in Scotland, in

clusive of and in addition to those persons qualified to serve as special jurors in terms of the aforesaid act passed in the 55th year of the reign of his late Majesty.

II. And be it enacted, that as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this act, the sheriff of every county in Scotland shall select from the list of jurors contained in the General Jury-Book of the county whereof he is sheriff, the names of all persons qualified to be special jurors in terms of this act; and such names so selected shall be entered in the Special Jury-Book of such county as persons liable to serve as special jurors: Provided always, that, in making such selection, the sheriff shall take the names of such jurors in the order in which they stand in the said General Jury-Book, and shall enter the said names in the same order in the Special Jury-Book immediately after the names which shall have been entered in the said Special Jury-Book at the time of the passing of this act: And provided also, that in case the names of special jurors entered in the Special Jury-Book shall have been all returned to serve as jurors before the names contained in the General Jury-Book shall in like manner have been gone through, the sheriff in making returns of special jurors shall recommence to take the names from the top of the list entered in the Special JuryBook, and shall so return the names in their regular order in which they stand in the said book, until new lists shall be prepared.

III. Declares, that the number of special jurors shall not exceed one-third of the number of common jurors: Provided that any juror qualified as special, but not entered, shall serve as a common juror.

IV. The names of jurors dying or becoming disqualified may be passed over.

V. This act and 6. of Geo. IV. cap. 22, to be construed together.

Provision is made for salaries to the judges by the act 26. of Geo. III. cap. 46, "for augmenting and fixing the salaries of the Judges :-by 39. of Geo. III. cap. 110, amended by 39. and 40. of Geo. III. cap. 55, for a similar purpose :-by 48. of Geo. III. cap. 145," for enabling his Majesty to grant annuities to the Judges of the Courts of Session, Justiciary and Exchequer in Scotland, on the resignation of their of"fices:"by 50. of Geo. III. cap. 31 :—And by 54. of Geo. III. cap. 94, " to grant additional annuities to 'Judges of the courts, &c. who had resigned their of"fices before the last augmentation of salaries granted "to the judges of these courts."

Baron Hume's Commentaries.

JUSTICE OF PEACE.

A Justice of Peace is a magistrate invested with local jurisdiction, to enable him to take cognisance of, and to punish, all disturbances of the public peace within his district.

Although known in England at a much earlier period, the first appointment of justices in Scotland took place in virtue of the act 1609, cap. 7, which declares,

That in every schyre within this kingdome there shall be yearlie appoynted by his Majestie some godlie, wyse and vertuous gentlemen of good qualitie, moyen and report, making residence within the same, in sik number as the bounds of the schyre shall requyre, to be commissioners for keeping

his Majesties peace, to whom his Majestie, with advyce of the Lords of his privie councell, shall give power and commission to oversee, try and prevent all sik occasions as may breed trouble and violence amongst his Majesties subjects, or forceable contempt of his Majesties authoritie and breach of his peace, and to command all persons in whom they shall see manifest intention to make trouble or disorder, either by gathering together of ydle and disorderlie persons, or by publict bearing or wearing of pistolets or other forbidden weapons, and sik other ryotous and swaggring behaviour, to binde themselves and finde caution under competent paines to observe his Majesties peace, and for their compearance before his Majesties Justice or Lords of his privie councell, to underly sik order as shall be found convenient for punishing their transgressions or staying of troubles and enormities, and if need shall be, to requyre the duetiful and obedient subjects of the shyre to concurre with them in preventing all sik contempts and violences, or for taking or wairding of the wilfull and disobedient authors, committers and fosterers of these crymes and disorders under sik competent arbitrare paines as his Majestie and Lords of his privie councell shall appoynt for the offenders, and sik of the countrie as being requyred shall not give their readie and afald concurrance to his Majesties commissioners in the premisses, whereby the ordinare magistrats and officiares within the shyres may be the better assisted, and their absence, imployments or other impediments mair commodiouslie supplied, without derogation of their jurisdiction, or want of readie comfort and justice to the obedient subjects within the bounds thereof, ordeining also the saids commissioners to give true advertisement and information to the Lords of his Majesties privie councell, Justice-General and his deputes, his Majesties thesaurer and other magistrats and officers whom it effeirs, of the names of sik faithful and unsuspect witnesses and assysers to be summoned in all crymes and disorders

whilk shall happen to fall forth within the said shyres, as shall be knawn to be maist meet and able for tryell and probation of the same, and for eschewing that sik as are either aged, seikle, or unable to travell, or ignorant of the facts to be tried, be not unjustlie vexed or unnecessarlie drawne from their awne houses and affaires, for matters wherein they are not able to give any light.

The acts 1617, cap. 8, and 1661, cap. 38, extended the jurisdiction, and defined the powers of justices. Although these statutes are still regarded as containing the fundamental regulations on this subject, they imposed some restrictions which were removed at the Union by the act 6. of Queen Anne, cap. 6, and relative commission, so that justices of the peace in Scotland are now invested with the same powers for the preservation of the peace as in England.

As to eligibility for this office, there is one statutory disqualification in the act 6. of Geo. IV. cap. 48, § 27, which declares, that no solicitor or procurator in any inferior court in Scotland, or the partner of such person, shall continue, or be a justice of the peace, or act as such in any county in Scotland, while he or his partner shall continue in the business or practice of solicitor or procurator in any inferior court. This is a clause of the small debt act quoted below; but it is a general disqualification, and not confined to proceedings under the small debt act.-Tait, p. 265, note.

The act 1633, cap. 25, being a ratification of all previous acts in favour of justices of the peace, declares as follows:

Attour his Majestie, and Estates foresaid, give full power, authoritie and commission to the Lords of his Majesty's pri