Practical View of the Statute Law of Scotland; From the Year MCCCCXXIV, to the Close of the Session of Parliament MDCCCXXVII, in a Series of Titles (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: MAGISTRATES. See Buhgh Royal, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT. See ParliaMent. MINOR. See Curators. MUIRBURN. See Game. OATH OF CALUMNY. The purpose of an action in general is, either to' enforce payment of a debt, or to vindicate some right that is unjustly withheld. But there may be other motives for legal proceedings. They may originate in a wish to injure the character, or to disturb the peace of the defender, under the pretext of following out some frivolous or pretended claim. To repress calumnious actions, the statute 1429, cap. 125, ordains, That advocates and forespeakers in temporal courtes, and alswa the parties that they pleade for, gif they be present, in all causes that they pleade, in the beginning or he be heard in the cause, he sall sweare, that the cause he trowis is gudand leil), that he sall pleade: And gif the principal partie be absent, the advocate sall sweare in the saule of him, after ns is conteined in their meters: Illud juretur, quod lis eibi juste videtur. Et si quseretur vernm, non inficietur. Nil promittetur, nee falsa probatio detur. It lis tardetur, dilatio nulla petetar. As applied to advocates, this act has long been in desuetude; but, in regard to pursuers of actions', it is still in force. ACTS OF SEDERUNT. With regard to the terms of the oath, it is declared, by act of sederunt, 13. January 1692, " That in case any party " require an oath of calumny upon an alledgeance propon- " ed and found relevant for him, that he may require the " party against whom the same is to be proven, to depone " whether he does not know the same to be true; so that " he should not put the proposer to the necessity to prove " the same: And if the party against whom any point or al- " ledgeance is to be proven require the oath of calumny of " th...