Demonstrations have been staged in protest at the merger

Lawyers at Edinburgh Sheriff Court claimed that the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) wants to amalgamate the regiments as part of an Army restructuring which would also create a new super-regiment.

The KOSB were founded after an act of the Scottish Parliament in 1689.

Regular soldiers

The court challenge, lodged by veterans from the Edinburgh branch of the Regimental Association, claimed that if a law was required to create it, one was also needed to scrap it.

However, Advocate Andrew Webster, appearing for the MoD, told Sheriff Elizabeth Jarvie, QC, that the KOSB were regular soldiers of the British Armed Forces.

He said that irrespective of how they were first formed, their management and control was a matter for the UK Government.

Proposed merger

The KOSB and the Royal Scots are to merge and join four infantry regiments as part of a new Scottish super-regiment.

The merged KOSB and Royal Scots would be combined with the Black Watch, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Highlanders in a new Royal Regiment of Scotland.

The MoD and army chiefs said the changes were needed to the structure of the infantry to ensure commitments could be met in the 21st century.

About 2,000 people marched through Edinburgh in December in protest at the proposed merger.