§ Lords Amendment: In page 2, line 16 leave out "high".
§ Motion made and Question proposed, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.—[Mr. Ross.]
§ 11.0 p.m.
§ Mr. WylieWe welcome the Amendment for the particular reason that it affects Scotland; in that the Commission in Scotland may, at the end of the day, have to rely on the services of, for example, a sheriff-principal. I understand that the Government have been fortunate enough to obtain the services of a High Court judge in the first instance, but I can foresee difficulty here and anything which is calculated to encourage the recruitment to the Commission of people such as sheriffs-principal or sheriffs-substitute will strengthen the Scottish Commission substantially.
§ The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. William Ross)I am glad to have the support of the hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Wylie). He will appreciate that this Amendment does not cover sheriffs-substitute, but sheriffs-principal. We will come to the other point later.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§
Lords Amendment: In line 18, after "not" insert
(unless otherwise provided by the terms of his appointment)".
§ Motion made, and Question proposed. That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.—[Mr. Ross.]
§ Mr. Graham PageDoes this Amendment include a sheriff-substitute, since we were rather shocked to hear that apparently he is to be excluded?
§ Mr. RossIf the hon. Gentleman will allow his eye to travel a little beyond 179 the Amendment we are discussing he will find the answer to that question.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§
Lords Amendment: In line 19, at end insert:
(5) Subsection (4) above shall have effect, in relation to a salaried sheriff-substitute, notwithstanding anything in section 21 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907 (which among other things prohibits such a sheriff-substitute from being appointed to any office except such office as shall be by statute attached to the office of sheriff-substitute)
§ Mr. RossI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This Amendment makes a sheriff-substitute eligible for appointment to the Law Commission by removing, from the point of view of membership of the Commission, the disability placed on him by Section 21 of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1907. Although we removed the limitation on "high judicial office", that removal itself could not bring in a sheriff-substitute without removing this disability which, in the 1907 Act, provides that a sheriff-substitute shall not be appointed to any office except such office as shall by Statute be attached to the office of sheriff-substitute.
The Amendment makes it clear that the provision will not prevent a salaried sheriff-substitute from taking office as a law commissioner while retaining and continuing to perform his duties in the office which he holds. This was, in this House and elsewhere, thought to be a desirable change; that we should give this right to a sheriff-substitute as we have to others who were reckoned to be outwith "high judicial office".
§ Mr. WylieThe Amendment removes a prohibition which is contained in the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1907, which would otherwise prevent a salaried sheriff-substitute from taking an appointment of this nature. However, it was also necessary to have Amendment No. 6, to exclude the word "high" from "high judicial office". Otherwise, a sheriff-substitute could not take on an appointment of this nature without relinquishing his office. Thus, we need both Amendments.
§ Question put and agreed to.