High sheriff
A high sheriff is a ceremonial officer for each shrieval county of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, or the chief sheriff of a number of paid sheriffs in U.S. states who outranks and commands the others in their court-related functions. In Canada, the High Sheriff provides administrative services to the supreme and provincial courts.
The office existed in the Irish Free State, but was abolished in 1926.
In England and Wales, the term "high sheriff" for the sheriff of a county was used at least as early as 1531. This may have helped distinguish the high sheriffs from the undersheriffs, the deputies they appointed, and from sheriffs of cities and boroughs designated counties corporate. The sheriffs of the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972, incepting on 1 April 1974 were statutorily titled High Sheriffs.
The office is now an unpaid privilege with ceremonial duties, the sheriffs being appointed annually by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council except for Cornwall, where the high sheriff is appointed by the Duke of Cornwall and for Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, where they are appointed by the monarch in the right of the Duchy of Lancaster. In England and Wales the office's civil enforcement powers exist but are not exercised by convention.
The website of the High Sheriffs’ Association of England and Wales stated in 2021 that the role was a "non-political Royal appointment", for one year, and unpaid.
England and Wales
In England, Wales the high sheriff are theoretically the sovereign's judicial representative in the county, while the lord-lieutenant is the sovereign's personal and military representative. Their jurisdictions, the shrieval counties, are the ceremonial counties. The post contrasts with that of sheriff in Scotland, who is a judge sitting in a sheriff court.The word sheriff is a contraction of the term shire reeve. The term, from the Old English scīrgerefa, designated a royal official responsible for keeping the peace throughout a shire or county on behalf of the king. The term was preserved in England notwithstanding the Norman Conquest.
English historians have offered varying estimates as to when the office of the sheriff was established. According to historian George Molyneaux, "the late tenth century is a very plausible period for the introduction of sheriffs, especially in the south." The office reached the height of its power under the Norman kings. While the sheriffs originally had been men of great standing at court, the 13th century saw a process whereby the office devolved on significant men within each county, usually landowners. The Provisions of Oxford established a yearly tenure of office. The appointments and duties of the sheriffs in England and Wales were redefined by the Sheriffs Act 1887. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974, the office previously known as sheriff was retitled high sheriff.
The serving high sheriff submits a list of names of possible future high sheriffs to a tribunal which chooses three names to put to the sovereign. The nomination is made on 12 November every year and the term of office runs from 25 March, Lady Day, which was the first day of the year until 1751. No person may be appointed twice in three years unless there is no other suitable person in the county.
Nomination
The Sheriffs Act 1887 provides that sheriffs should be nominated on 12 November, or the Monday following if it falls on a Sunday, by any two or more of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Lord President of the Council, and the Lord Chief Justice of England; other members of the Privy Council; and any two or more judges of the High Court. These amendments were in 1998, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was granted full entitlement, not merely conditional entitlement, if there is no Lord High Treasurer – since the treasurership is by constitutional convention always placed into commission, and in 2006 the Lord Chancellor was removed as a nominating officer through the operation of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.These officers nominate three candidates for each county in England and Wales, which are enrolled on a parchment by the King's Remembrancer.
Eligibility for nomination and appointment as high sheriff under the Sheriffs Act 1887 excludes peers of Parliament, members of the House of Commons, commissioners or officers of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, officers of the Post Office and officers of the Navy, Army or Royal Air Force on full pay, clergymen and barristers or solicitors in actual practice.
Pricking
The practice of pricking is an ancient custom used to appoint the high sheriffs of England and Wales.In February or March of each year, two parchments prepared the previous November are presented to the sovereign at a meeting of the Privy Council. A further parchment is drawn up in November for Cornwall and presented to the Duke of Cornwall.
Certain eligible persons nominate candidates for each county shrievalty, one of whom is chosen for each by the sovereign. In practice, the first name on the list is nowadays always the one chosen; the second and third names tend to become sheriffs in succeeding years, barring incapacity or death. The sovereign signifies assent by pricking the document with a silver bodkin by the relevant name for each county, and signs the parchment when complete. The parchment for the Duchy of Lancaster is known as the Lites, and the ceremony of selection known as Pricking the Lites. The term lites, meaning list, was once reserved for Yorkshire; the date at which the name was transferred to Lancashire is unknown. The Lites is used for the three shrieval counties that fall wholly or partially within the boundaries of the historic county palatine of Lancaster, since 1 April 1974: Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside.
The practice is believed to date back to a year in the reign of Elizabeth I, when, lacking a pen, she decided to use her bodkin to mark the name instead. By contrast, Lord Campbell stated, perhaps without the intention of publication, in February 1847, " in ancient times, sir, when sovereigns did not know how to write their names." while acquiring a prick and a signature from Queen Victoria as Prince Albert asked him when the custom began. The High Sheriffs' Association argues pricking vellum ensured that the record could not be altered. Given that holders of the office often had to bear large costs and implement unpopular policies altering the choice of the monarch must sometimes have been tempting.
Declaration
The declaration a person must make before taking the office of high sheriff is contained in the second schedule of the Sheriffs Act 1887. Additional words are inserted in the case of the Duchy of Cornwall; for example, the declaration includes: "do solemnly declare that I will well and truly serve the King’s Majesty and also his Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall".Responsibilities
Contemporary high sheriffs have few genuine responsibilities and their functions are largely representational, which include attendance at royal visits and a High Court judge opening ceremony, proclamation of a new sovereign, and acting as a returning officer in county constituencies during elections.Theoretical responsibilities include the well-being and protection of High Court judges, and attending them in court; and the maintenance of the loyalty of subjects to the Crown. However, most of the high sheriff's work is delegated so that in effect the post of high sheriff is essentially ceremonial.
The high sheriff was traditionally responsible for the maintenance of law and order within the county, although most of these duties are now delegated to the police. As a result of its close links with law and order the position is frequently awarded to people with an association with law enforcement. The high sheriff was originally allowed to kill suspects resisting arrest; this was still legal in the 17th century. Edward Coke noted that when the high sheriff employed constables to assist in his duties the law was also extended to them.
Powers
Under the provisions of the Sheriffs Act 1887, if a sheriff finds any resistance in the execution of a writ he shall "take with him the power of the county", and shall go in proper person to do execution, and may arrest the resisters and commit them to prison, and every such resister shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.They are entitled to grant High Sheriff Awards for community service, and judges have delegated authority to grant them on a sheriff's behalf, with a financial reward, to those who help to bring someone to justice, or who provide assistance to the victims of crime.