Advocates,

Advocates, FACULTY OF, in Scotland. The constitution of this body, like the name by which its members are known, was unquestionably derived from France. The profession seems to have existed in Scotland from a very early time; and in 1424 a statute was passed for securing the assistance of advocates to the poor. This institution has remained with little alteration to the present time (see POOR'S ROLL). But though existing as a profession, the advocates of Scotland did not form a faculty or society till the institution of the College of Justice (q.v.) in 1532. At first, their number was limited to ten, but there is now no limit. The number on the rolls of the body is about 370; but the number of those who practise does not exceed 120. Even of these a very small fraction live by the practice of the profession. From the improvements which have been made in the sheriff-courts, and from other causes, the amount of litigation in the Court of Session has greatly diminished since the beginning of the present century, and the continued accession of new members to the Faculty of Advocates is to be accounted for only by the fact that the bar is still regarded as the regular avenue to public and official life in Scotland. The Faculty was at one time a highly aristocratic institution, but now it is recruited from all classes of society. The Scottish advocates have always taken a liberal view of improvements in the law and legal institutions; and the chief reforms in these directions are due to their initiation or support. Two examinations are imposed on candidates for admission, the one in general scholarship, the other in law; the first, however, being dispensed with if the inrant is Master of Arts of a British university, or has a satisfactory degree of a foreign university. Other- wise an examination takes place before a committee of the Faculty on: (1) Latin; (2) Greek, or two modern languages—French, German, Italian, Spanish; (3) Ethics and Metaphysics; (4) Logic, or Mathematics. After the expiry of a year, the qualified inrant may go in for his private examination on law. The examiners, however, cannot take him on trial if during the year he has been engaged in any trade, business, or profession. Proof of attendance on the law-classes in the university of Edinburgh is also requisite. An advocate is entitled to plead in every court in Scotland, civil, ecclesiastical, or criminal, superior or inferior; and also before the House of Lords. A party may manage his own cause in the Court of Session (q.v.), so far as oral pleading is concerned, but with exception of defences, every paper in process must be signed by an advocate. There is a widows' fund belonging to the body, which is also regulated by statute. The supreme judges of Scotland and principal sheriffs are always, and the sheriff-substitutes generally, selected from the bar. The fees on admission to the Faculty of Advocates are about £330, the great bulk of which is devoted to the purposes of the Advocates' Library. The Faculty elect from time to time a distinguished advocate as Dean of Faculty, who claims precedence at the bar over the law-officers of Scotland.