MISCELLANEOUS LEGAL BUILDINGS, GREAT BRITAIN.—Class I. (Hansard, 18 April 1918)

§ Mr. WATT
I see that part of this expenditure is incurred in Scotland and on the sheriffs' court-houses there. That item is £330. I should like to know what particular part of Scotland the new erections have been made of Sheriffs' Courts. The larger item of £10,500 is for the maintenance of court-houses. I am sorry there is no Member of the Ministry representing Scotland here, because the right hon. Gentleman will not be aware of the local points I propose to put. The right hon. Gentleman, perhaps, knows that the Sheriffs' Courts have now very little to do in Scotland. There is a movement on foot that, instead of having a Court for each of the present existing sheriffdoms, the sheriffs should be fewer in number and that their jurisdiction should be conjoined. It would follow upon that that some of the sheriffs' court-houses, which are maintained out of this item, would be closed during the War, at any rate, and that the administration of justice should be in fewer hands and, therefore, fewer Sheriffs' Courts would be required. I do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman and his Department have considered the advisability of having fewer sheriffs' courthouses and so reducing national expenditure in that respect. There is a very large call for economy of every kind throughout the country. Certainly there is a large call for the saving of money on the administration of justice, for the simple reason that litigation in Scotland and elsewhere is very much reduced at the present time. There is absolutely no necessity for the maintenance of so many judges or so many sheriffs or so many Sheriffs' Courts. The right hon. Gentleman will find it quite possible to save money on the sheriffdoms of Scotland, and to close the Courts.

§ Sir A. MOND
With regard to the first item, there are no new erections; therefore the question the hon. Member asks me does not arise. As regards the second part, my Department has no jurisdiction whatever over the number of sheriffs' court-houses. That is a question for the Secretary of State for Scotland. All we have to do is to maintain and repair such sheriffs' court-houses as the legal authorities in Scotland consider to be necessary for the administration of justice in that country.

§ Mr. HOGGE
Surely the excuse offered by my right hon. Friend is not sufficient. He has surrounded himself with at least two members of the Government whose duty it is to see that Ministers are in their places, and when so eminent an authority as my hon. and learned Friend on questions of law in Scotland makes the speech which he has just made, which I regret not having heard myself, but in which, from previous knowledge of similar speeches which he has made, I am certain he covered the ground in a way which must have appealed to my right hon. Friend, though he admits he knows nothing about it, I should have thought, having heard that speech, his first duty was to send for the Secretary of State for Scotland in order to give some information about this large number of sheriffs' court-houses. There is nothing in the Estimate with regard to the maintenance of those houses, and something ought to appear in regard to them. It only amounts to £680, and all of it is put down for urgent and unforeseen work. I imagine what my hon. and learned Friend is afraid of is that some of the money will be used to create another sheriff-house in Scotland and thereby find accommodation for another sheriff, which would worry him considerably. I really think that on the Report stage my right hon. Friend ought to see that the Secretary of State for Scotland is present, especially as my hon. and learned Friend is going to take part in the discussion.