No. II.

1 W. 4, c. 69.

Payment of salaries of judges, &c.

Compensation to be made to

clerks, &c.

Orders for

compensation to be laid before parlia

ment.

Commencement of act.

accounted for in the court of exchequer in Scotland; and it is hereby provided, that the salaries of the judges, clerks, and macers, hitherto paid from the aforesaid sums, shall be paid, by order of the said court of exchequer, out of the monies charged or made chargeable by the acts passed in the seventh and tenth years of the reign of her Majesty queen Anne, with the fees, salaries, and other charges allowed or to be allowed for keeping up the courts of session, justiciary, or exchequer, in Scotland.

XLV. That it shall and may be lawful for any clerk or other officer holding his office at the passing of this act, and entitled to compensation for loss to be suffered through the operation and effect of this act, to make application to the court of exchequer in Scotland, which court shall direct intimation thereof to be given to his Majesty's advocate in behalf of the public; and thereafter the said court shall inquire into and consider the circumstances of the case, and shall award to every such person such compensation as the court shall think such persons entitled to, either by the payment of a gross sum or by way of annuity, as the court shall think proper: Provided always, That every order made for such compensation shall set forth the nature of the office, the grounds on which compensation is prayed, and on which the award may be founded; and that a copy of every such order shall be laid before parliament within two calendar months after the commencement of the session next ensuing after making the same; and no such decision of the said court shall be final and conclusive until two calendar months after a copy of the order of such court for compensation shall have been so laid before parliament; and any sum of compensation so to be awarded shall be paid and payable upon the order of the said court of exchequer, in such manner and at such time or times as the court shall direct, out of the aforesaid monies charged or made chargeable by the aforesaid acts passed in the seventh and tenth years of the reign of her Majesty queen Anne, and every sum of compensation shall be clear of all taxes and deductions whatsoever.

XLVI. That the whole provisions of this act, unless where otherwise herein specially provided, shall commence and take effect from and after the fifth day of October next after the passing of this act.

SCHEDULE to which this Act refers.

to sit in rotation; but not less than three

at a time in

[No. III.] 1 W. IV. c. 70.-An Act for the more effectual Administration of Justice in England and Wales.

[23rd July 1830.] WHEREAS the appointment of an additional puisne judge to each of his Majesty's superior courts of common law would cause much greater facility and dispatch of business therein: And whereas it is expedient to put an end to the separate jurisdiction for the county palatine of Chester and the principality of Wales, and to make more effectual Puisne judges provision for the administration of justice in England and Wales; be it therefore enacted, &c., That whenever his Majesty shall be pleased to appoint an additional puisne judge to either of his courts of the king's bench, the common pleas, and the exchequer, the puisne judges of such court shall sit by rotation in each term, or otherwise, as they shall agree amongst themselves, so that no greater number than three of them shall sit at the same time in banc for the transaction of business in term, unless in the absence of the lord chief justice or lord chief baron; and that it shall and may be lawful for any one of the judges of either of the said courts, when occasion shall so require, while the other judges of the same court are sitting in banc, to sit apart from them for the business of adding and justifying special bail, discharging insolvent debtors, administering oaths, receiving declarations required by statute, hearing and deciding upon matters on motion, and making rules and orders in causes and business depending in the court to which such judge shall belong, in the same manner and with the same force and validity as may be done by the court sitting in banc.

banc.

Salaries to additional judges.

Retirement allowances to additional judges.

Additional judges may

II. That from and after the appointment of any such additional judge there shall be issued and paid and payable out of and charged upon the consolidated fund of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (after paying or reserving sufficient to pay all such sums as have been directed by any former act of parliament to be paid out of the same, but with preference to all other payments which shall hereafter be charged upon the same), the sum of five thousand pounds to such additional judge as he shall be so appointed, as and for a yearly salary, to be paid from time to time quarterly, free and clear from all taxes and deductions whatsoever, on the fifth day of January, the fifth day of April, the fifth day of July, and the tenth day of October, by equal portions, the first payment to be made on the first of such days respectively as shall occur after the appointment of the judge entitled to receive the same; and that if any person hereafter appointed to such office shall die, or resign the same, the executor or administrator of the person so dying, or the person so resigning, shall be entitled to receive such proportionable part of the salary aforesaid as shall have accrued during the time that such person shall have executed such office since the last payment, and that the successor of any such person so dying or resigning shall be entitled to receive such portion of the salary as shall be accruing or shall accrue from the day of such death or resignation: Provided always, That the removal of a puisne judge from one court to another shall not be deemed a new appointment under this act.

III. That upon the resignation of any such additional judge it shall be lawful for his Majesty, by his letters patent under the great seal of Great Britain, to give and grant to the person so resigning (under and subject to the same conditions, limitations, and restrictions as any annuity on resignation can now by law be granted to any other judge of the same court) an annuity during his life not exceeding the sum of three thousand five hundred pounds yearly, or such other sum as shall by any act hereafter to be made provided for judges resigning their offices to be paid and payable out of and charged upon the consolidated fund aforesaid, free and clear of all taxes and deductions whatsoever, by even quarterly payments to be made respectively on the days aforesaid in each year.

IV. That every judge of the said courts, to whatever court he may

belong, shall be and he is hereby accordingly authorized to sit in London No. III. and Middlesex for the trial of issues arising in any of the said courts, 1 W 4, c. 70 and to transact such business at chambers or elsewhere, depending in any of the said courts, as relates to matters over which the said sit in London courts have a common jurisdiction, and as may, according to the course and Westminand practice of the court, be transacted by a single judge. (1)

ster.

V. That a certain act passed in the third year of the reign of his late Repeal of Majesty king George the fourth, intituled An Act to repeal an Act of the Act 3, G. 4, First and Second Years of His present Majesty, for facilitating the Dis- c. 102. patch of Business in the Court of King's Bench, and to make further Provision in lieu thereof, shall be and the same is hereby repealed, except so far as it repeals the said former act, and except so far as relates to the last warrant issued by his said late Majesty under the said act.

VI. That in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and Terms altered. thirty-one, and afterwards, Hilary term shall begin on the eleventh and end on the thirty-first day of January; Easter term shall begin on the fifteenth day of April and end on the eighth day of May; Trinity term shall begin on the twenty-second day of May and end on the twelfth day of June; and Michaelmas term shall begin on the second and end on the twenty-fifth day of November; and that the essoign and general return days of each term shall, until further provision be made by parliament, (2) be as follows; that is to say, the first essoign or general return day for every term shall be the fourth day before the day of the commencement of the term, both days being included in the computation; the second essoign day shall be the fifth day of the term; the third shall be the fifteenth day of the term; and the fourth and last shall be the nineteenth day of the term, the first day of the term being already included in the computation; with the same relation to the commencement of each term as they now bear, and shall be distinguished by the day of the term on which they respectively fall, the Monday being in all cases substituted for the Sunday when it shall happen that the day would fall on Sunday, except always that in Easter term there shall be but four returns instead of five, the last being omitted; provided that if the whole or any number of the days intervening between the Thursday before and the Wednesday next after Easter day shall fall within Easter term, there shall be no sittings in banc on any of such intervening days, but the term shall in such case be prolonged and continue for such number of days of business as shall be equal to the number of the intervening days before mentioned exclusive of Easter day, and the commencement of the ensuing Trinity term shall in such case be postponed, and its continuance prolonged for an equal number of days of business.

VII. That when the alteration of the terms herein-before mentioned Limiting the shall take effect not more than twenty-four days, exclusive of Sundays, time for sitafter any Hilary, Trinity, and Michaelmas term, nor more than six days, tings. exclusive of Sundays, after any Easter term, to be reckoned consecutively immediately after such terms, shall be appropriated to sittings in London and Middlesex for the trial of issues of fact arising in any of the said courts; provided that if any trial at bar shall be directed by any of the said courts, it shall be competent to the judges of such court to appoint such day or days for the trial thereof as they shall think fit; and the time so appointed, if in vacation, shall for the purpose of such trial be deemed and taken to be a part of the preceding term; provided also, that a day or days may be specially appointed, at any time not being within such twenty-four days, for the trial of any cause at

(1) The words "common jurisdiction" must be understood with reference to the subject matter of the application, and not with reference to the court itself; Phillips v. Drake, 2 Dowl. P. C. 45.

(2) See post, 1 W. 4, c. 3, repealing the above provisions as to the essoign and general return days.

nisi prius, with the consent of the parties thereto, their counsel or 1 W. 4, c. 70. attornies.

No. III.

the sittings, herein is excepted.

IX. That upon all trials for felonies or misdemeanors upon any record Judgments to of the court of king's bench, judgment may be pronounced during the be pronounced sittings or assizes by the judge before whom the verdict shall be taken, in all trials for as well upon the person who shall have suffered judgment by default or felonies upon confession, upon the same record, as upon those who shall be tried and record during convicted, whether such persons be present or not in court, excepting only where the prosecution shall be by information filed by leave of the court of king's bench, or such cases of informations filed by his Majesty's attorney general wherein the attorney general shall pray that the judgment may be postponed; and the judgment so pronounced shall be indorsed upon the record of nisi prius, and afterwards entered upon the record in court, and shall be of the same force and effect as a judgment of the court, unless the court shall, within six days after the commencement of the ensuing term, grant a rule to show cause why a new trial should not be had or the judgment amended; and it shall be lawful for the judge before whom the trial shall be had either to issue an immediate order or warrant for committing the defendant in execution, or to respite the execution of the judgment, upon such terms as he shall think fit, until the sixth day of the ensuing term; and in case imprisonment shall be part of the sentence, to order the period of imprisonment to commence on the day on which the party shall be actually taken to and confined in prison.

Jurisdiction of

minster ex

tended to counties palatine, &c.

XIII. That from and after the commencement of this act his Macourts at West- jesty's writ shall be directed and obeyed, and the jurisdiction of his Majesty's courts of king's bench, common pleas, and exchequer respectively, and of the several judges and barons thereof, shall extend and be exercised over and within the county of Chester and the county of the city of Chester, and the several counties in Wales, in like manner, to the same extent, and to and for all intents and purposes whatsoever as the jurisdiction of such courts respectively is now exercised in and over the counties of England not being counties palatine, any statute heretofore passed to the contrary notwithstanding; and that all original writs to be issued into the said several counties of Chester, city of Chester, and Wales, shall be issued by the cursitors for London and Middlesex, and the process and proceedings thereon shall be issued by and transacted with such of the officers of the several courts of king's bench and common pleas as shall be named for that purpose by the chief justice of such courts respectively, each naming 'for his own

Present juris

ties palatine and principality of Wales

to cease.

Suits to be transferred.

court.

XIV. That all the power, authority, and jurisdiction of his Majesty's diction of coun- court of session of the said county palatine of Chester, and of the judges thereof, and of his court of exchequer of the said county palatine, and of the chamberlain and vice chamberlain thereof, and also of his judges and courts of great sessions, both in law and equity, in the principality of Wales, shall cease and determine at the commencement of this act; and that all suits (1) then depending in any of the said courts, if in equity, shall be transferred, with all the proceedings thereon, to his Majesty's court of chancery or court of exchequer, as the plaintiff or (in default of his making choice before the last day of next Michaelmas term) as any defendant shall think fit, and if in law, to the court of exchequer, there to be dealt with and decided according to the practice of those courts respectively, or of the courts from whence the same shall be transferred, according to the discretion of the court to which the

(1) Upon the plea of nul tiel record to a declaration in scire facias in the exchequer, on a judgment obtained in the court of great sessions in Wales before the passing of this act, the plaintiff was held entitled to the judgment of the court, upon producing the certificate and affidavit of the record being in the hands of the officer, in pursuance of the rules of M. T. 1 W. 4, though the actual judgment is not in court; Howell v. Brown, 3 Dowl, 805.