§ Mr. WATTasked the Lord Advocate if he will state the result of his inquiry into the fact that special constables are being cited in Glasgow as jurors to attend the sittings of the High Court of Justiciary and the various sheriff and jury Courts; whether such special constables are officers of the law within the meaning of the Jurors (Scotland) Act, 1825, and, as such, entitled to exemption from acting as jurors whilst they are discharging duty as special constables; and whether he has now given instructions to those responsible for citing jurors to those Courts that special constables will not be called upon to serve as jurors?
§ Mr. CLYDEI can only find one case in which a special constable has been cited in Glasgow as a juror. In making up the returns of jurors in Glasgow under the Act of 1825 the Sheriff Clerk does not include any otherwise qualified person whose appointment as a special constable is known to him; but, owing to the large number of recent appointments to the office of special constable, it is possible that a special constable may occasionally be included in the return and subsequently summoned to serve, either in the Sheriff Court or in the High Court, in ignorance 1405W of the fact that he holds office. The matter is not one in which I have power to issue instructions.