When to be holden. Quarter sessions in boroughs 28th day of December, in the first week after the 31st day of March, and in the first week after the 24th day of June. It will, of course, be observed that, in this calculation the entire week in which any one of the before-mentioned days falls is to be excluded —thus, as Sunday is the first day of the week, should the 11th of October fall upon that day the sessions cannot be holden until the Monday week following, being the 19th of the month, and so of the other days mentioned in the statute. It is, of course, competent to the justices to arrange to commence holding their sessions on any day of the week, so that they commence in the proper week, and also, having properly commenced them to continue thereon after that week has elapsed, until the business has been brought to a regular conclusion. To prevent, however, the inconvenience which would arise from the spring sessions (after the 31st of March) clashing with the county assizes, the 4 & 5 Will. 4, c. 47, was passed, which, after reciting that in some counties the time usually fixed for holding the spring assizes interferes with the due holding of the lastmentioned Quarter Sessions, &c. enacts That in every county, riding, or division for which general quarter sessions ought to be held, it shall be lawful for the justices assembled in their general quarter sessions, in the week next after the 28th day of December in every year, to name (if they shall see occasion so to do) two justices of the peace, who shall be empowered, as soon as may be after the time for holding the spring assizes shall be appointed, to fix the day for holding the next general quarter sessions of the peace for such county, riding, or division, so as such time shall not be earlier than the 7th day of March, or later than the 22nd day of April, and to give notice of the day so fixed by advertisement, &c. In boroughs, under the Municipal Corporations Act (5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76), in which there is a grant of Quarter Sessions, such sessions are directed to be holden before the recorder. The 105th section enacts: That the recorder of every borough shall hold once in every quarter of a year, or at such other and more frequent times as the said recorder, in his discretion, may think fit, or as His Majesty shall think fit to direct, a Court of Quarter Sessions of the peace, in and for such borough, of which court the recorder of such borough shall sit as the sole judge, &c. holding As regards the place at which the sessions are The place of held, this is entirely within the discretion of the quarter justices. In determining upon the locality, the sessions. justices are, of course, influenced by various considerations; thus, if there be one large and central town, having the convenience at hand of the county gaol or house of correction, it is probable that such town will be selected as the only one at which the sessions should be held throughout the year; or if the principal towns be at considerable distances from each other, and not centrally located, the justices will, probably, think it advisable to hold the sessions alternately at different towns, or adjourn them from one town to another. present at sessions. The matters to be transacted at the Quarter Duty of Sessions, being of a highly important and varied justices to be character, and arising from all parts of the quarter county, they require the attention of the great body of the justices, who, laying aside all considerations of private convenience, should be scrupulously exact in their attendance upon this tribunal. Occasionally, questions of the gravest moment, involving the outlay of vast sums of money, and the permanent and heavy taxation of the county, will be brought under the consideration of the assembled justices, and vested, as these gentlemen are, with an unlimited discretion, and with great powers of taxation, it should be no trivial excuse which should prevent any of them from assisting at those deliberations H Clerk of the peace. which may be followed by such important consequences. The justices assembled at their Quarter Sessions resemble, in many particulars, the national Parliament. Their functions, in raising taxes (county rates) for the purposes of the county expenditure, are subject to little check or qualifications; and in the matter of county bridges, gaols, lunatic asylums, the establishment of a county constabulary, &c., their powers are extensive and important. These considerations will be sufficient to impress upon every justice a sense of the propriety of his giving his vigilant attention to the duties to be performed at the Quarter Sessions, and of the extent of the wrong which he may inflict upon the county by neglecting to attend in his proper place to its interests and welfare. We Before dismissing this subject, it will be proper to call attention to the existence of an officer, whose functions, in connexion with the Quarter Sessions, are of great importance. allude to the Clerk of the Peace. This functionary is the representative of the custos rotulorum, who is the principal personage amongst the body of the justices (being usually also the Lord Lieutenant of the county, though the offices are essentially distinct), being the keeper of the rolls of the peace, and other official county documents. The Clerk of the Peace, is appointed by the custos rotulorum, but is a distinct officer of the sessions, and holds his office during good behaviour. Although not a servant to the justices, he may, upon a charge in writing, exhibited at the sessions, of having misdemeaned himself in the execution of his office, and due proof of the truth of such charge, be suspended or discharged by them. The duties of this officer are of a very extensive nature, comprising, in fact, the arrangement and the carrying out of the practical details of peace. the entire sessions. Thus, he gives the proper Clerk of the notices for the holding of the sessions, issues its processes, records its proceedings, and does all ministerial acts necessary to give effect to its proceedings and decisions. He is, in fact, the instrument which puts in motion, and continues the entire process of, the sessions, seeing that all the practical details are conducted with regularity, and that nothing is wanting to give proper and legal effect to the business transacted. addition to this, the Clerk of the Peace, from his experience in practice and general knowledge of the law, is often referred to by the justices for his views upon questions in which the regularity or sufficiency of their proceedings is in debate. In From these circumstances, it will at once be seen that the office of Clerk of the Peace is one involving great responsibilities, and requiring considerable vigilance and talent in its execution. Hence, we generally find it filled by a gentleman brought up to the law, who has practised for some time either as a barrister, or an attorney, or a solicitor, and who is properly looked upon by all the justices as a gentleman to whom they can at all times, with propriety, refer for information and instruction upon any matters coming properly within his official knowledge, connected with their duties and liabilities. This functionary is usually remunerated by fees, payable according to a settled scale. However by the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 55, s. 9, the justices at their General or Quarter Sessions, may recommend to the Secretary of State, that for the future he shall be paid by a stated fixed salary, whereupon such Secretary of State may order that the Clerk of the Peace shall for the future be paid by a stated fixed salary in lieu of fees. The act also provides in like manner for Quarter sessions a Court of the payment by fees in lieu of a fixed salary, and also for the altering of the foregoing arrangements from time to time. In conclusion, it is proper to observe that the Court of Quarter Sessions is a Court of Oyer Record, and and Terminer, and is not a court of inferior jurisdiction: (Rex. v Smith, 8 B. & C. 342; per Lord Tenterden.) not an in ferior court. Rules and orders of sessions. CHAPTER XXII. RULES AND ORDERS OF SESSIONS-THE DAY OF - PROCEEDINGS THEREUPON THE duties which justices have to perform at their quarter sessions, extending over a vast variety of matters, it has been found necessary for their due and regular performance that a body of rules should be framed, directing the order and method in which the business is to be transacted. Every county has its standing orders, which have been framed by the justices at sessions, with the view to the orderly and efficient conduct of business; and as these orders are intended to be a code of practice, they will be the test by which the regularity of any given proceeding within their operation I will be tried. These rules, thus framed by the justices at sessions, remain in force until |