The Prosecution of Sexual Crimes in Early Eighteenth-Century Scotland

Abstract

A session of the north circuit held at Perth on 20 May 1709 marked a turning point in the prosecution of sexual crimes in Scotland and a significant change in the administration of Scottish criminal justice. By pardoning more than 300 men and women charged with fornication and adultery, the court brought about the de facto decriminalisation of those crimes in the Scottish secular courts. An incest trial held before the court the same day revealed difficulties in the prosecution of this crime and challenged prevailing male and clerical attitudes towards rape. The proceedings of the court also demonstrated the growing reluctance of Scottish advocates to appeal to biblical authority in criminal prosecutions. The legal developments at Perth were made possible by a bill of indemnity passed by the British parliament in 1708, the abolition of the Scottish privy council in the same year, and the establishment of a comprehensive circuit court system in Scotland.