SCOTLAND. The government of Scotland, since the union with England in 1707, has been a part of the general administration of Great Britain. Until 1885 the connection was maintained chiefly through the Home Office. In that year the office of Chief Secretary for Scotland was created, and a variety of duties which had previously been discharged by different departments were trans ferred to the new office. The Chief Secretary is a member of the Cabinet, and as such is the chief spokesman of the Ministers in the House of Com mons in regard to business pertaining to Scottish affairs. Another important functionary in the government of Scotland is the Lord Advocate, who acts as chief law officer of the Crown for Scotland, and is the legal adviser of the Crown in Scottish affairs. As such, he serves as Attor ney-General and public prosecutor for Scotland and has control of the whole criminal business of that country. He also has charge of the prep aration for the consideration of Parliament of all bills affecting Scottish affairs. The Lord Advo cate is assisted by a Solicitor-General for Scot land, whose duties resemble those of the similar officer for England. The local government of Scotland is regulated chiefly by the recent Scot tish Local Government Acts of 1889 and 1894. By the former act an elective county council was created in each county, following the English Local Government Act of the previous year. These councils are in all respects similar to those provided for English counties. They took over most of the duties of the old county boards, the chief of which was the Commission of Supply. The Local Government Act (Scotland) of 1894, following the similar act passed the same year for the local government of England, provided for an elective parish council in each parish to take the place of the old parochial boards and to exercise substantially the same powers as the English parish councils. By the same act a
local government board for Scotland was cre ated. It consists of the Secretary for Scotland as president, the Solicitor-General, the Under Secretary for Scotland, and three other members appointed by the Crown. Municipal administra tion in Scotland does not differ greatly from that of England. There are several kinds of burghs, some of which have a little more local autonomy than others. The municipal officer correspond ing to the English alderman is known in Scot land as the baillie, while the one corresponding to the English mayor goes by the name of provost.
For the administration of justice in Scotland there is a Court of Sessions, corresponding to the Supreme Court of Judicature in England. It is the highest civil tribunal in Scotland, consists of thirteen judges, and is divided into chambers and subdivided into divisions for the dispatch of busi ness. The Supreme Criminal Court for Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary, consisting of all the judges of the Court of Sessions. It sits part of the time in Edinburgh and part of the time goes on circuit. Circuits are held twice a year, for which purpose Scotland is divided into three districts. For the trial of criminal cases, usually one judge with a jury of fifteen men constitutes the court. The High Court has exclusive juris diction in cases of treason, murder, robbery, rape, and in general all the more serious offenses. The more important inferior courts of Scotland are those held by the county sheriffs, who are appointees of the Crown, for a good-behavior tenure. They have a civil and criminal jurisdic tion somewhat similar to that exercised by the County Courts and Courts of Quarter Sessions in England, and cases tried by them with a jury cannot be reviewed by the higher courts. For the government of Ireland, see IRELAND.