legal development of witch hunts- scotland

Question 1

what year was the Scottish Witchcraft Act

Answer 1

1563

Question 2

what was the court of justiciary (Edinburgh)

Answer 2

> dealt with cases close to the capital and was made up of trained judges from central courts so understood law.

Question 3

what are circuit courts

Answer 3

> held in shires so cities and divisions all around scotland
staffed by trained judges from central courts so also understood law.

Question 4

what were ad hoc courts

Answer 4

> tried witches in local areas
staffed by local landowners and magistrates- only had partial training so were not fully aware of law.

Question 5

when was there a serious increase in witch hunts

Answer 5

1590’s

Question 6

when it became more centrally managed crime, who had to approve trials

Answer 6

• had to be pre-approved by the Privy Council and Parliament

Question 7

why did limited judicial capacity cause problems

Answer 7

> led to heavily religious zealous magistrates being assigned people’s trials- it was unfair.

Question 8

what happened to circuit courts

Answer 8

> did not function with regularity until the 17th century

Question 9

what caused problems with procedures

Answer 9

> there was no procedures for appeals or review of locally tried cases so struggle to guarantee whether people were actually guilty.

Question 10

did Scotland have a centralised or de-centralised government

Answer 10

• it was not de-centralised however not fully centralised as government lacked authority in some cases.