§ Mr. R. Gibsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many citations for jury service, criminal, civil, and others, including fatal accident inquiries, were served on men and women, respectively, in the city of Edinburgh and the counties of Midlothian, East Lothian, and West Lothian, respectively, during the year 1937; how many excuses for non-attendance were granted in each of the above groups; and what were the average numbers of men and women, respectively, liable for jury service during the said period?
§ Mr. ElliotThe numbers of citations for jury service in the city of Edinburgh and the counties of Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian, during the year 1937, were as follow:
563WAs regards the second part of the question, the numbers of persons cited for criminal trials who were excused attendance were, in the city of Edinburgh, 25 men and 44 women and, in the county of Midlothian eight men and 19 women; and the numbers cited for Fatal Accident Inquiries and excused were, in the city of Edinburgh, six men and eight women and, in Midlothian, two men and three women. The remaining figures asked for are not at present available, and as regards civil (Court of Session) trials could not be ascertained without considerable labour; but it may be stated that in civil (Court of Session) trials the numbers of applications to be excused, supported by medical certificate, which were made to the Sheriff Clerk of Midlothian and were presumably granted, were as follow:
— Men. Women. City of Edinburgh … 93 97 Midlothian … 23 20 East Lothian … 11 15 As regards the third part of the question, I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the reply given to a question by him on the 14th instant, in which the numbers of men and women whose names appeared in the General Jury Books in October, 1937, were given. The average numbers of persons liable for jury service throughout the year could not be ascertained without undue labour.