Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1896 — JUDGES IN SCOTLAND. [ARTICLE]

JUDGES IN SCOTLAND.

Quaint Law Which Governs Their Ele« vation to the Bench. By an old act of the Scottish parliament the qualifications of a judge In Scotland are quaintly set out. He is to be "ane man that fearis God, of gude literature, practfk, judgment and understanding of the lawes, of gude fame, havand sufficient living of his ain, and wha can make good expedition and dispatch of matters touching the lieges of the realm,” and by a later statute the judge is to be at least 25 years of age. By the act of union writers to the signet of a certain standing are eligible for seats on the bench, as well as members of the faculty of advocates have always managed to retain the honor for themselves. The most curious circumstance connected with a new appointment is the probationary trials the nominee has to go through to show whether he is a fit and proper person. By an old rule of court he was required to sit three days with one of the puisnes, and report on cases heard by him there to the inner htyise, 1. e., the court of appeals, and then sit for one day in the inner house and give his opinion on the cases debated there. In one old case the court rejected a nominee as not being duly qualified, and in another instance they claimed to exercise the same power, which led to the passing of an act which provided that, even If the presentee is reported not to be qual'ified, the crown may insist on his admission.

Nowadays, the “trials” occupy only a few hours; the lord probationer is invariably found qualified, and is at once transformed from an “apprentice” Into a regular senator of the college of justice. All Scotch judges are entitled to be called “lord,” but that does not confer on their wives the title of “lady,” and this, in some Instances, where the judge has taken a territorial title, has given rise to some misconstruction. It is said that a certain lord of sessions, who bore one of these territorial titles, accompanied by his wife, visited a south coast watering place, and inscribed his and his wife’s names in the hotel book as “Lord X, and Mrs. Y.” This brought the landlord upon the scene at once. “Beg your pardon, my lord,” said he, “I fear you must find accommodations elsewhere; thia Is a respectable house.” The use of these territorial designations was much more common in former days than now. Boswell’s father, it may be remembered, was Lord Auchinleck. The practice, Indeed, seemed to be dying out, when the old custom was recently resuscitated by Mr. Mackintosh and Mr. Gloag, who occupy seats on the bench with the titles of Lord Kyllachy and Lord Kincalrney respectively.— Westminster Gazette.