§ MR. THOMAS SHAW (Hawick Burghs)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate, (1) whether the attention of the Government has been called to the interpretation placed by certain sheriffs in Scotland upon Section 4, Sub-section (7), of the Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland) Act, 1895, which sub-section directs the return of a verdict setting forth "the cause or causes of such death" by accident, under which interpretation juries have been directed carefully to exclude from their verdict all mention of fault? (2) Whether he, is aware that on several occasions juries have publicly and strongly protested against this limitation upon their verdict enforced by the sheriff's rulings; and (3) whether it is the intention of the Government to bring in any amending Bill, so as to remove the limitation above mentioned.
§ THE LORD ADVOCATENo representation has reached me on this subject, though I am aware from the newspapers that some juries have proposed to include in their verdict a finding on the question of fault, and have been directed that this would not be within their province. Under these circumstances, the answer to the third paragraph of the question is in the negative.