In our articles ADMIRAL and ADMIRALTY, we gave some account of the former Lord High Admiral of Scotland, and of the Vice-Admiral, who is still ap pointed, although his duty is done by the Judge-Admi ral. whose office is now entirely judicial, and both civil and criminal. (See statute, 1681, c. 16.) Although styled an inferior court, this is only relatively to the Court of Session, which has the power of reviewing its decrees; but it is a supreme court in respect of its exclusive jurisdiction, in the first instance, in what are strictly maritime causes, such as freight, salvage, charter party, damage done at sea, wrecks, &c. It has also, cumulatively with the Court of Session, jurisdic tion in mercantile cases, such as bills of exchange, con tracts, insurance, &c. provided the issue be not of less value than £25, (1. & 2. Geo. IV. c. 39.) As already stated when treating of the Jury Court, the Judge Ad miral may remit certain cases, and must remit others to that court for trial (6 Geo. IV. c. 120.) The same act takes expressly from the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland, and vests in that of England, all jurisdic tion "in questions and matters relating to prizes and capture in war, and condemnation of vessels as such, any law or practice to the contrary notwithstanding." The Vice-Admiral, or now rather the High Court of Admiralty, has the power of naming inferior deputies, with local jurisdictions, whose sentences are subject to review by the high court. The Magistrates of Ed inburgh claim an independent right of admiralty in the port of Leith, emanating from the Crown, and not from the Court of Admiralty or the Vice-Admiral. This matter is disputed by the Judge-Admiral, and is not yet determined. The High Court of Admiralty can review its own judgments, even after extracted decree, and that both by suspension and reduction. This power alone is sufficient to constitute this judica tory supreme, although its decrees are subject to re view in the Court of Session.
The Commissary Court is entitled to the next place, and is also in one view supreme and in another infe rior. This was an ecclesiastical court before the Re formation; but in 1560, a commissary was appointed by Queen Mary to act under the royal authority in diocese; and soon afterwards a supreme court of four judges (their present number) was instituted at Edinburgh, with power of reviewing the sentences of the diocesan commissaries. The Supreme Court had likewise a diocesan jurisdiction in the county of Edin burgh and several contiguous shires. Since our notice of the Commissary Court in the article LAW, this jurisdiction has been materially changed by the abolition of the inferior or diocesan commissaries, and the transference of their jurisdiction to the sheriffs, subject to the review not of the Supreme Commissary Court, but of the Court of Session, (4 Gee. IV. c. 97.) The jurisdiction of the Commissary Court is priva tive, in instance, in all consistiorial causes, as questions of marriage, divorce, separation, legitima cy, confirmation of testaments, and cumulative with that of the sheriffs and other civil courts, in actions of slander, aliment of wives, sealing the repositories of deceased persons, Ste. The jurisdiction formerly exercised by the Commissary Court in questions of debt, is taken away by the statute last above quoted.
Anciently the shires or counties, or eomitatus, were governed by the comites or earls, in place of whom Sir Thomas Craig thinks the sheriffs or vice-comites were subsequently appointed by the king. He derives the word sheriff from the Saxon grave, a term still subsisting in the Scotch word greeve or overseer. Spclman with greater probability compounds the word of sheer, to cut or divide, and reeve, magistrate, —the reeve of a division of the kingdom. In England, several places, as Manchester, have their Borough reeve to this day. Still the Vice-comes or Sheriff re tained the title of High Sheriff, and had almost unli mited power within his territory. The jurisdiction act (20 Geo. II. c. 43.) put the office on its present footing. The High Sheriff still exists nominally in each county, but without judicial authority, and his executive powers are exercised by him as Lord Lieu tenant. The Judge Ordinary or the county is the Sheriff Depute, who is appointed by the Crown, and is altogether independent of the high Sheriff.* Some counties had the denomination of Stewartries, of which Kirkcudbright is the only existing instance; of this county the Judge Ordinary is called the Stewart De pute; but his office differs only in name from that of his brethren the Sheriffs. The Sheriff's power is both judicial and ministerial. His judicial power, as a civil judge, is exercised in " all personal actions upon contract, bond, or obligation, to the greatest extent, whether the suit be brought against the debtor him self or his representatives; in actions of rent and of forthcoming; in poindings of the ground; and even in adjudication of lands when it proceeds upon the renun ciation of the apparent heir; in all possessory actions, as removings, ejections, and spulzies, Sec.; in all brieves issuing from Chancery, as of inquest, terce, division, tutory, Sec.; and in general in all civil mat ters which are not by special law or custom appro priated to other courts." (Erskine, 1, 4, 3.) The Sheriff judges in questions of straighting boundaries, dividing runrig lands, mutual inclosures, Sec. By the statute, 4 Geo. IV. c. 97, the Sheriff is constituted the Commissary of the county, upon the abolition of the inferior or diocesan commissariots. Of the She riff's criminal jurisdiction, we shall treat in the sequel under its proper head. Ministerially the Sheriff is the police magistrate of his territory; the officer through whom all proclamations and acts of govern ment reach the county; he presides at county courts of freeholders, in the absence of the member for the county; receives and returns the writs for election of the representatives in Parliament, returns juries, strikes fiars or prices of corn, Sec. The sheriff appoints his own substitute or under sheriff; of which there are two and even three in some of the larger counties. He reviews their judgments, while his own are sub ject to the review of the supreme court. Ile can hold. courts any where within his territory, on previous notice at the church doors. The form of procedure in the sheriff courts, by the late statute, or rather by an act of sederunt of the Court of Session under au thority of that statute, is, as nearly as possible, assi milated to that of the supreme and all other civil courts in Scotland.