§ DR. CAMERON (Glasgow, College)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Sheriff of Caithness has issued an order for Caption against the Procurator Fiscal of his Court for the non-production of certain papers given out of his custody by order of the Crown Agent; whether it is true that, in the case out of which this action against his Procurator Fiscal originated, the Sheriff of Caithness appended the following note to his interlocutor, authorising the abandonment of a summary complaint:— 1057
The Sheriff has granted this motion to the extent aforesaid, only at the request of the Lord Advocate. He is hopeful that his Lordship will still relieve the rogue money of this county, now the general assessment of the expense of a trial by certifying, by his deputies or otherwise, the charge against Exchequer;whether it is proposed to act on the suggestion put forth in this interlocutor; and, if so, under what head of the Estimates the sum certified against Exchequer would be included; and whether the expenses of the Procurator Fiscal, incurred in defending himself against imprisonment at the hands of the Sheriff for obeying the order of the Crown Agent, will be defrayed out of moneys voted by this House; and, if so, under what head of the Estimates?
§ *MR. J. P. B. ROBERTSONThe fact in the first paragraph and the quotation in the second paragraph of this question are correctly given. Whether the expenses referred to will fall to be defrayed out of moneys voted by this House depends on the result of legal proceedings now sub judice, and this question has not, therefore, arisen.