§ Lords Amendment: No. 1, in page 22, line 39, leave out "of counsel" and insert "an advocate".
§ 10.10 p.m.
§ The Lord Advocate (Mr. Norman Wylie)I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This is a drafting Amendment. The effect of the Clause is to enable a party to summary proceedings in the sheriff court to be represented in certain circumstances by someone other than a qualified lawyer, which is already covered in small debt actions. The expression "of counsel" was intended to signify a member of the Bar, but it has been suggested that the expression is more commonly used in England than in Scotland and that it would be more appropriate in a Scottish Bill to use the more familiar words "an advocate" to describe a member of the Scottish Bar.
§ Question put and agreed to.