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Dornoch Sheriff Court
Well this is where I was due to spend my time today - as a member of a JURY! Unfortunately (as I was looking forward to it) the proceedings were called off a few days ago and now I will never see the inside of a court!
Sheriff courts provide the local court service in Scotland, with each court serving a sheriff court district within a sheriffdom.
The legal cases which are heard within the Courts are dealt with by a Sheriff. A Sheriff is a Judge who is usually assigned to work in a specific Court although some work as 'floating Sheriffs' who may work anywhere in Scotland. There are about a hundred and forty full-time Sheriffs in the various Courts and a number of part-time Sheriffs. They are appointed on the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.
Jury Trials in Scotland differ slightly from those of the rest of the UK -
In Scotland juries consist of 15 people for criminal trials and 12 people for civil trials. In criminal trials there has never been a requirement for verdicts to be unanimous; they are reached by simple majority. (People were occasionally hanged on majority verdicts in Scotland.) Juries may also return the verdict of not proven. The backing of at least eight jurors is needed to return a guilty verdict, even if the number of jurors drops below 15, e.g., because of illness. It is not possible for Scots juries to be "hung"; if there is not sufficient support for any verdict then this is treated as a verdict of not guilty.
The "not proven" verdict is an acquittal used when the judge or jury does not have enough evidence to convict but is not sufficiently convinced of the defendant's innocence to bring in a "not guilty" verdict. Essentially, the judge or jury is unconvinced that the suspect is innocent, but has insufficient evidence to the contrary. However technically under Scots law (though not in the perception of the public) there is no difference between "not proven" and "not guilty" and both are equivalent to the "Not Guilty" verdict of English Law and of other jurisdictions.
Dornoch Sheriff Court
Well this is where I was due to spend my time today - as a member of a JURY! Unfortunately (as I was looking forward to it) the proceedings were called off a few days ago and now I will never see the inside of a court!
Sheriff courts provide the local court service in Scotland, with each court serving a sheriff court district within a sheriffdom.
The legal cases which are heard within the Courts are dealt with by a Sheriff. A Sheriff is a Judge who is usually assigned to work in a specific Court although some work as 'floating Sheriffs' who may work anywhere in Scotland. There are about a hundred and forty full-time Sheriffs in the various Courts and a number of part-time Sheriffs. They are appointed on the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.
Jury Trials in Scotland differ slightly from those of the rest of the UK -
In Scotland juries consist of 15 people for criminal trials and 12 people for civil trials. In criminal trials there has never been a requirement for verdicts to be unanimous; they are reached by simple majority. (People were occasionally hanged on majority verdicts in Scotland.) Juries may also return the verdict of not proven. The backing of at least eight jurors is needed to return a guilty verdict, even if the number of jurors drops below 15, e.g., because of illness. It is not possible for Scots juries to be "hung"; if there is not sufficient support for any verdict then this is treated as a verdict of not guilty.
The "not proven" verdict is an acquittal used when the judge or jury does not have enough evidence to convict but is not sufficiently convinced of the defendant's innocence to bring in a "not guilty" verdict. Essentially, the judge or jury is unconvinced that the suspect is innocent, but has insufficient evidence to the contrary. However technically under Scots law (though not in the perception of the public) there is no difference between "not proven" and "not guilty" and both are equivalent to the "Not Guilty" verdict of English Law and of other jurisdictions.