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How

appointed.

which he shall be so assigned, or within seven miles of it, or of some part of it, during such time as he shall act as a justice of the peace in and for such borough.

The appointment of private individuals in all cases is directly by the Crown, through the Lord Chancellor; in counties usually upon the recommendation of the Lord Lieutenant, or other influential parties; and in municipal boroughs at the instance of persons upon whose judgment the Government for the day relies; or the Lord Chancellor of his own motion makes the appointment. When made, it is signified to the clerk of the peace, who communicates the fact to the gentlemen nominated. This proceeding does not of course apply to those justices who become such by virtue of their offices, such as the mayors and recorders of boroughs, judges of the County Courts, &c.

Upon receiving a notification of his appointment, the justice should, if he is desirous of taking upon himself the duties of his office, communicate to the clerk of the peace his readiness to qualify, and authorize him to take the necessary steps for the purpose, and request to be informed of the time and place at which to attend. It is unnecessary here to refer minutely to the various oaths or forms which the justice has to go through, they are few and simple in themselves, and will be communicated to him by the clerk of the peace, whose fees he will have to pay at the time. It will, however, be proper to mention, that as he will have to specify in his oath of qualification the nature of his property, he should be prepared with an accurate description of its nature and locality.

Having complied with these preliminary conditions, and affixed his signature to the different documents, the newly-made justice becomes entitled to take upon himself the numerous duties

imposed upon him by the various acts of Parliament, and the commission of the peace; amongst the more important of which, in former times, he will still find noted down that of inquiring into all and all manner of enchantments, sorceries, arts, magic! &c.

CHAPTER II.

PETTY SESSIONAL DIVISIONS OF COUNTIES.PETTY AND SPECIAL SESSIONS.

ALTHOUGH the powers of a justice of the peace are co-extensive with the limits of the county or riding for which he is appointed, yet as it would be found extremely inconvenient to him and to the respective suitors to be called upon to administer justice or appear at remote parts, a practice has long since sprung up which has been recognised and enforced by the Legislature, of dividing the counties into petty sessional divisions, wherein the justices dwelling within such divisions alone transact the business arising within such localities as may properly be brought under their cognizance and jurisdiction. In many cases, indeed, the Legislature has provided that the justices of a certain division shall alone have authority to deal with particular matters arising within the limits of that division, as under the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, wherein it is provided that an application for an order of affiliation must be made to the justices of the division wherein the woman resides at the time of the application, and in which and in similar cases, no other justices but those of that division have any functions to interfere.

Divisions of counties.

Place of

meeting for the transaction of business.

There are at present two statutes regulating the divisions of counties for the purposes of the administration of justice by justices of the peace, the first of which is the 9 Geo. 4, c. 43, which provides for the mode of forming and giving effect to the division; and the second, the 6 Will. 4, c. 12, which points out the method of altering such divisions as occasion requires. Each act, however, renders it a condition to the formation of a division, that there shall be five justices residing or usually acting within the boundary-line of such division.

The place at which the justices meet for the transaction of such business in the division as is within their jurisdiction, is entirely in their own discretion. They, however, usually fix upon some central spot, and upon some building there, well known and of a commodious nature, the same place being, for reasons sufficiently obvious, always continued for the purpose. In the selection of this place the justices are unrestricted, but it will readily occur to every intelligent mind that whilst some premises are peculiarly well adapted for the purpose of holding magisterial meetings, others are altogether ill-suited, and should be avoided. Thus, should there be any town-hall or other public building in a convenient situation within the division, such a place would undoubtedly be one of all others to be preferred, whilst it would be highly desirable, if possible, to avoid meeting at an inn or tavern, or other place where an encouragement may be given to intemperance or disorderly conduct. In large towns no difficulty can well occur in the selection of a proper place, but in rural districts it is certainly often next to impossible to obtain a commodious location, unless it be at some inn or tavern. Useful, however, as are the public inns of this country when used for their original and legitimate purposes, no one

who wishes well to the humbler classes of this kingdom would desire to see them drawn to such places for any purposes not necessarily connected with the original objects for which they were licensed. When men are kept hanging about an inn, perhaps for hours together, until their business is brought on, the temptation to indulge in the liquors which are there vended often becomes too strong to be resisted, and not only is intemperance thus encouraged, but the presence of justice itself is often insulted by the appearance of parties in a state of inebriation. In many cases, no doubt, it is wholly impossible to select a place commanding the necessary accommodation unless it be a tavern, but so highly objectionable in a moral point of view is the administering of justice in such a house, that no consideration of expense or inconvenience ought for one instant to weigh in the matter. Indeed, when recently this question came incidentally under the attention of the Legislature, it was proposed to insert a clause in the Petty Session Act forbidding the holding of petty sessions in such a place; but whilst the evil was fully admitted on all hands, it was thought better to leave the subject to the good sense of the magistracy than to interfere by positive enactment. The statute, however, of the 12 Vict. c. 18, intituled An Act for the holding of Petty Sessions of the Peace in Boroughs, and for providing Places for the holding of such Petty Sessions in Counties and Boroughs," enacts in sect. 2, "that in all cases where at present there are not, or where hereafter there shall not be, any fit or proper place for the holding of such petty sessions within any such petty sessional division as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the justices of the peace for any such county, riding, &c., in general or quarter sessions assembled, if they shall think fit to direct from time to time that fit

Petty

sessions.

and proper places be hired or otherwise pro-
vided for the holding of such petty sessions of
the peace, within any such petty sessional
division, and that the expenses thereof and
attendant thereon be paid out of the county
rate." This section then proceeds to pro-
vide for the making of the application to the
quarter sessions for the purpose of obtaining
their assent, and proceeds to enact that in any
case where it is so required to provide a fit and
proper place as aforesaid, if it shall appear to
the justices (at quarter sessions) that the County
Court for the district is holden in any building
or place which would be appropriate for the
holding of such petty sessions, it shall be law-
ful for such justices to contract with the treasurer
of such County Court for the use and occupation
thereof, or of so much thereof as may be needed
for the purposes of such petty sessions, for such
time or times, weekly or otherwise, and at such
annual rent and subject to such conditions as to
repairs, alterations or improvements of such
building or place, as may be agreed upon. The
foregoing section applies equally to justices of
the peace in corporate boroughs: the town
council being substituted for the quarter sessions;
and it should here be mentioned that by the
5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76 (the Municipal Corporations
Act), s. 100, it is enacted that the council of
every borough to which a separate commission
of the peace shall be granted under the pro-
visions of the act, shall be authorized and re-
quired to provide and furnish a suitable office or
offices for the purpose of transacting the business
of the justices of the peace of such borough, but
that no room in any house licensed as a victualling
house or alehouse shall be used for the purposes
of
any such police office.

In every division the justices arrange to meet at certain ascertained times to transact the busi

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