The Structure of Authority and the Prosecution of Crime in the Sheriff Courts of Mid-Victorian Scotland

Abstract

The law of Scotland has barely recognised the existence of private prosecutors and the preferred policy has been prosecution by a public prosecutor in the public interest. The legal persona engaged in public prosecution in the Sheriff Court has been traditionally the Procurator Fiscal. The move towards the modern system of public prosecution necessarily required legislative authority from the Imperial Parliament. The Sheriff Court reform in 1877 altered the dynamics of judicial oversight of the local public prosecutor and revealed something of the structure of authority. Elements of the concepts of the inquisitorial and accusatorial influence may be seen in these changes.