336 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

In each County is to be found one or more Sheriff Courts,
presided over by the Sheriff of the County and by Sheriffs-
Substitute, on whom the bulk of the work rests. These courts
have civil jurisdiction over all matters except divorce; their
criminal jurisdiction is limited by the fact that they cannot try
capital offences or impose sentences of penal servitude. In the
larger towns* members of the local authority, sitting as ex-cfficio
magistrates, in a Burgh Court, exercise similar powers ; through-
out the County, outside these towns, the Sheriff Court has
jurisdiction. Crown officials, known as Procurators-Fiscal, conduct
public prosecutions in these lower courts. There are no Coroners
in Scotland; should the cin^unstances of a death warrant an
inquiry, this is held by the Fiscal, who will decide whether
further action by the authorities is necessary.

The Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act provides for
the establishment of Juvenile Courts similar to those of England;
but little progress has so far been made in this direction.

The highest civil court is the Court of Session, divided into
an Inner and an Outer House. The First Division of the former
contains the Lord President (the Head of the Scottish legal
system) and three other judges; the Second Division contains
the Lord Justice Clerk and three other judges; the remaining
five Lords of the Court of Session constitute the Outer House.
The Court of Session is therefore;, like the English Court of
Appeal, a college of judges, separate groups of whom sit at the
same time. It has jurisdiction over all civil matters and can hear
appeals from the lower courts; there is a right of appeal from its
decisions to the House of Lords.

The highest criminal court is the High Court of Justiciary,
to which all the judges belong. It is presided over by the Lord
Justice General, who is the same person as the Lord President.
Five or more judges usually sit to hear a case. Each judge also
goes round the country on Circuit, and these Circuit Courts of
Justiciary, presided over by a single judge, are comparable to
the English Assizes. Sometimes a judge in a Circuit Court will