Exchequer Court (Scotland) Act 1856
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1856 c. 56 |
| Year | 1856 |
(19 & 20 Vict.) C A P. LVI.
[21st July 1856]
'WHEREAS the Practice and Procedure in the Court of Exchequer inScotland have been found inconvenient and troublesome, and it is expedient that the whole Power, Authority, and Jurisdiction at present belonging to the Court of Exchequer should be transferred to and vested in the Court of Session in Scotland , and that Provision should be made for the due Administration of Justice by the Court of Session in Exchequer Cases, and for all relative and necessary Proceedings in such Cases:' Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
I Court of Session to be the Court of Exchequer in Scotland.
I. The whole Power, Authority, and Jurisdiction at present belonging to the Court of Exchequer inScotland , as at present constituted, shall be transferred to and vested in the Court of Session, and the Court of Session shall be also the Court of Exchequer in Scotland .
II One of the Lords Ordinary in the Court of Session to be Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes.
II. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, from Time to Time to nominate and appoint One of the Lords Ordinary in the Outer House of the Court of Session to be Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes under this Act; and the Lord Ordinary to be so appointed shall, unless where otherwise expressly allowed by this Act, be the sole Lord Ordinary in all Causes to be instituted or carried through before the Court of Session by virtue of this Act, and shall continue to act as Lord Ordinary in all such Causes so long as he shall continue a Lord Ordinary in the Outer House, or until another Lord Ordinary shall be nominated as aforesaid to act as Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes in his Room and Stead; and, unless where otherwise expressly provided by this Act, all Proceedings in Exchequer Causes under this Act shall be brought in the first instance before such Lord Ordinary.
III Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes may act in Vacation; and in his Absence any other Lord Ordinary may act.
III. It shall be competent to the Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes at any Time, as well in Vacation or Recess as during the Sittings of the Court of Session, and on any Day or Days of the Year, whether Sederunt Days of the Court of Session or not, to entertain and dispose of all Matters of a summary Nature, or which may appear to the Lord Ordinary to require Despatch, being within his Competency under this Act, and also to try any Cause under this Act, and to pronounce Judgment therein, and in case of the Absence or Inability of the Lord Ordinary, any Duties devolving on him under this Act may, during such Absence or Inability, be performed by any other Lord Ordinary of the Court of Session acting in his Room and Stead.
IV Clerks to Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes to be Clerks in such Causes.
IV. The Depute and Assistant Clerks of Session attached to the Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes shall be Clerks in all such Causes in the Outer House; and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to grant to such Assistant Clerk of Session, in respect of the Increase of his Duties under this Act, an annual Allowance not exceeding Fifty Poundsper Annum , in addition to his ordinary Salary; and such Allowance shall be paid out of any Monies which may from Time to Time be voted by Parliament for that Purpose.
V Exchequer Causes may be commenced by Subpoena.
V. It shall be competent to the Lord Advocate, on the Behalf of Her Majesty, to commence any such Cause by issuing or causing to be issued against the Defender a Subpoena in the Form, as nearly as may be, of Schedule A. hereunto annexed, which Subpoena may be served upon the Defender and Execution of Service returned in the like Manner as any ordinary Summons before the Court of Session may be served and Execution thereof returned; provided that such Service may be made either by a Messenger-at-Arms, or Sheriff Officer, or by an Excise Officer or other Officer of the Department of Inland Revenue, or any Officer of the Customs.
VI Subpoena to be called in Court as a Summons, and Procedure thereon.
VI. On the Expiration of the Induci of any such Subpoena, such Subpoena may be called in the Court of Session, and thereafter enrolled, in the like Manner as any ordinary Summons; and the Lord Ordinary shall, at the Outset of the Cause, unless the Information to which such Subpoena relates be then produced and lodged in Process, pronounce an Interlocutor allowing such Information to be lodged in Process, and no further Proceeding shall take place until such Information be lodged; and upon such Information being lodged a Copy thereof shall be served upon the Defender, unless such Service shall have been previously made; and the Transmission of such Copy through the Post, addressed to his known Residence or Place of Business, shall be deemed sufficient Service; and a Certificate by any One Person, written on the Information itself and signed, bearing that a Copy thereof has been served upon the Defender, shall beprim facie Evidence of such Service having been duly made; and after the Information shall have been served as aforesaid, the Lord Ordinary shall, if the Defender shall admit the Truth of the Information, or of such Part thereof as may be insisted in against him, or do not appear, give Decree in Terms of the said Information, so far as the same shall be insisted in; and if the Defender shall appear, and shall not admit as aforesaid, the Lord Ordinary shall appoint a Day for hearing the Parties upon such Information, where this may appear to him to be necessary, or shall appoint a Day for trying the Matters put in Issue by such Information, without any Adjustment of any separate Issue or Issues, or shall take such other Course as to him may seem proper; and where a Day shall be so appointed for Trial, a Common or Special Jury (where a Special Jury shall be applied for and granted) shall be summoned and empanelled, as in any ordinary Jury Cause before the Court of Session to be tried by a Lord Ordinary in the Outer House; and the Lord Ordinary in Exchequer Causes shall preside at such Trial, and at all other Trials of Exchequer Causes under this Act, unless in any particular Case, upon a special Request by such Lord Ordinary to that Effect to either of the Two Divisions of the Court of Session, another Lord Ordinary shall be appointed to preside in his Stead; and the Verdict of the Jury may be in one or other of the Forms in the Schedule C. hereunto annexed, or in such other Form as may be applicable to the Case, and shall be subject to the Provisions of the Act of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth of Queen Victoria , Chapter Fifty-nine; and on such Verdict being given the Lord Ordinary presiding at the Trial shall pronounce Decree in conformity therewith, and as may be just and according to Law.
VII Form of Information in Causes commenced by Subpoena.
VII. Every Information to be lodged in Terms of this Act shall be in the Form, as nearly as may be, of the Schedule B. hereunto annexed; and it shall be competent to the Lord Advocate, on the Behalf of Her Majesty, to amend his Information at any Time before Verdict; provided that no such Amendment shall be made by the Lord Advocate after a Day has been fixed for Trial, unless upon Payment to the Defender of his Expenses previously incurred: Provided also, that it shall not be necessary to mention in any Information any Act of Parliament other than the Act imposing any Penalty or Duty claimed, or creating any Debt sought to be recovered; and provided further, that, notwithstanding the Terms of any such Information, it shall not be incumbent to prove against the Defender, in order to recover under such Information, any Matters stated therein, except only such Matters as are by Law required to be proved in order to the Forfeiture of the Penalty, or the Recovery of the Duty or Debt, or the Condemnation of the Seizure sought for.
VIII Special Case may be lodged where Parties agreed upon the Facts.
VIII. Where in any such Cause commenced by Subpoena as aforesaid the Parties shall be agreed upon the Facts, and shall dispute only on the Law, it shall be competent for them to lodge in Process a Special Case, signed by themselves or their Counsel, setting forth the Facts on which they are so agreed and upon which the Question of Law arises, and such Special Case shall be equivalent to a Special Verdict finding such Facts, and raising a Question of Law for the Lord Ordinary.
IX Procedure in Cases commenced by Subpoena, so far as not expressly provided, how to be regulated.
IX. The Procedure in all Cases commenced by...
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