The Jurisdiction and Practice of the Court of Quarter Sessions

judge of the probable consequences of the victory and defeat to the respective solicitors. Barristers, also, who practise at Sessions, will find it greatly to their advantage to have a correct and perfect knowledge of the jurisdiction and practice of the Court, for reasons sufficiently obvious. But above all others, the Magistrates, who have to decide upon the regularity or irregularity of the proceedings before them, should have a minute acquaintance with their own rules, the extent of their jurisdiction, and the practice generally of their Court: their decisions upon such subjects are often long and earnestly canvassed out of Court; and a mistake, arising from want of attention to or ignorance of a point of practice, familiar probably to many who hear their decision, would do more to detract from that confidence which persons usually have in their administration of the law, than even erroneous decisions upon the merits. As the subject, therefore, appears to me to be important, and as I have been informed that a work upon it would be acceptable to the profession and to Magistrates, I have written the present volume.

It consists of Four Chapters. The first, treats of the Jurisdiction and Practice of the Court of Quarter Sessions generally :-the jurisdiction under the Commission and by Statute; when, where, and before whom the Court is to be holden; its officers; proceedings before it, generally, in appeals and in criminal cases; its decisions, in what cases and how revised, upon a writ of error, certiorari, special case, or mandamus; and its members, how far punishable, and how protected. The second chapter, treats of

the Practice of the Court in Criminal Cases; and after treating shortly of the persons dispunishable for crime, by reason of insanity, coverture, infancy, and the like, and the degree of guilt of criminals, as principals and accèssories, it in the first place gives an alphabetical list of the offences punishable upon indictment, their punishment, &c., and a reference to the text books, &c. in which the law upon the subject, the form of the indictment, and the evidence necessary to sustain it, in each case, will be found; it then treats of the Indictment and Evidence generally; it next gives the Forms of Indictments, and the evidence necessary to support them, in all those cases which usually occur at Sessions, such as larceny, embezzlement, obtaining goods by false pretences, receiving stolen goods, uttering counterfeit coin, assaults, assault by poachers, riot, forcible entry, keeping disorderly houses, nuisances by carrying on offensive trades, obstructing or not repairing highways, &c., disobeying the orders of justices, refusing to serve office, and conspiracy; and lastly, it treats of the proceedings and practice in criminal cases, the grand and petty jury, the preferring and finding of the bill of indictment, the arraignment of the prisoner and his plea, traverse, &c., the trial, arrest of judgment, judgment, costs, and restitution of goods. The third chapter, treats of the jurisdiction and practice of the Court of Quarter Sessions, as a Court of Appeal, first treating of appeals generally, in what cases they lie, by and against whom to be brought, in what Court, and when, to be brought, notice of appeal, entry and adjournment of the appeal, proceedings at the hearing, amendment,

judgment, and costs; it then treats of the proceedings in appeals against orders of removal, against poor-rates, against the appointment of overseers, against the allowance or disallowance of overseers' accounts, against county rates, against orders for stopping up highways, appeals under Inclosure Acts, and appeals against convictions. The fourth chapter, treats of the jurisdiction and practice of the Court of Quarter Sessions in other matters; such as the exhibiting of articles of the peace; the allowance and enrolment of the rules of friendly societies; registering the chapels of Protestant Dissenters and Catholics; licensing lunatic asylums; proceedings with respect to the building, repairing and ordering of gaols; assessing the county rate; diverting and stopping up highways; allowance of coroners' fees; the punishment of a certain class of vagrants; and the disposing of applications in bastardy cases.

As to the manner in which I have treated these various subjects, it would be unbecoming in me to make any observation. The great pains, however, which I have taken with this little work, lead me to hope that it will meet with the same favour and approval, which the profession have kindly and indulgently bestowed upon my other works.

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