exercising, within the limits of his jurisdiction, all the powers, authority, rights and privileges by law appertaining to justices of the peace generally. (1) Every commissioner and every assistant commissioner of the North West Mounted Police Force is vested with all the powers of two justices of the peace, under the Mounted Police Act, 1894, or any other Act in force in the North West Territories; and every superintendent of the force is ex officio a justice of the peace. (2). For all the purposes of the Indian Act, or of any other Act respecting Indians, and with regard to any offence against the provisions of such Acts, or against the provisions of Article 98 of the Criminal Code (Inciting Indians to riotous acts), or of Article 190 (Prostitution of Indian women), and with reference to any offence by an Indian against any of the provisions of Part XIII of the Criminal Code (Offences against morality), every Indian agent is exofficio a Justice of the Peace, and is vested with the power and authority of two Justices of the Peace, anywhere within the territorial limits of his jurisdiction, as defined by his appointment or otherwise defined by the Governor in Council, whether the Indian or Indians charged with or in any way concerned in or affected by the offence, matter or thing to be tried, investigated or dealt with, are or are not within his ordinary jurisdiction, charge or supervision as an Indian agent; (3) and in the North West territories, and in the provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia, every Indian agent is, for all such purposes, and with respect to any such offence as aforesaid, a justice of the peace ex-officio, and has the power and authority of two justices of the peace anywhere in the said territories or provinces within which his agency is situated, whether or not the territorial limits of his jurisdiction as a justice, as defined in his appointment or otherwise defined, extend to the place where he may have occasion to act as such justice or to exercise such power or authority, and whether the Indians charged with or in any way concerned in or affected (1) R. S. C., c. 184, s.s. 1, 3. (2) 57 and 58 Vict., c. 27, sec. 9. (3) 57 and 58 Vict., c. 32, sec. 8. 3 by the offence, matter or thing to be tried, investigated or otherwise dealt with, are or are not within his ordinary jurisdiction, charge or supervision as Indian agent. (1) The Governor General in council may, by the regulations to be made, from time to time, for the enforcement of the provisions of the Quarantine Act, constitute any quarantine officer to be, by virtue of his office or employment, a justice of the peace for and in connection with the quarantine station to which he is assigned, whether such officer be otherwise qualified or not. (2) Every fishery officer appointed under the Fishery Act is, for all the purposes of the Act and the regulations made under it, a justice of the peace ex officio within the district for which he is appointed to act as such fishery officer. (3) Under the "Dominion Elections Act." every returning officer and every deputy returning officer is, from the time of his taking the oath of office, on the occasion of an election, until the day after the closing of the election, a conservator of the peace, with all the powers appertaining to a justice of the peace. (4) Some of the provincial statutes confer similar powers upon returning officers and their deputies during elections for the local legislatures. (5) And on the occasion of any poll for taking the votes of the electors of a county or city for and against the adoption of a petition for bringing the Canada Temperance Act" into force, every returning officer and every deputy returning officer is, from the time of taking his oath of office until the day after the summing up of the votes, a conservator of the peace invested with all powers appertaining to a justice of the peace. (6) Whenever a vessel of Her Majesty's Navy enters the Gulf of St. Lawrence, every officer attached or belonging to such vessel, and (1) 57 and 58 Vic., c. 32, sec. 8. (2) R. S. C., c. 68, sec. 5. (3) R. S. C., c. 95, sec. 2. (4) R. S. C., c. 8, ser. 73. (5) See R. S. Q., Art. 395, and 55 Vict., (Ont.), c. 3, sec. 137. (6) R. S. C., c. 106, sec. 65. holding the commission of vice-admiral, post-captain, captain, or commander in Her Majesty's navy, and any lieutenant in such navy, having the command of any such vessel is, while such vessel remains within the limits of the province of Quebec, ex officio a justice of the peace for the districts of Gaspe, Saguenay and Rimouski, without taking any oath of office and without being subject to the general requirements of the law as to residence and property qualification. (1) Justices by Commission.-Of this class are those commonly known as justices assigned to keep the peace in and for some particular county, district, or place. Their appointment in Canada.-Although the prerogative right to appoint justices of the peace within the Dominion of Canada and in each of the provinces is exerciseable by the Crown, directly, the power to appoint them is also vested in the Dominion Government by virtue of the British North America Act; but as the administration of justice is by that Act delegated to the provinces, the appointments are, for that reason, and by virtue, moreover, of various Acts of the Dominion and Provincial legislatures, invariably made in each province by the Lieutenant Governor in council, who names, for each county, district or place, any number that he may deem necessary. (2) In Ontario, justices of the peace may be appointed in and for any county, city and town, and in and for any provisional judicial, temporary judicial, or territorial district or provisional county, or for any portion of the territory of the province not attached to any county for ordinary municipal or judicial purposes. (3) The Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec appoints as justices of the peace in the several districts of the province the most efficient persons dwelling in such districts respectively and all qualified (1) R. S. Q. Art. 2567. (2) R. S. Q., Art. 2545; R. S. Q., c. 71, sec. 3; R. S. C., c. 50, sec. 64; R. S. C., c. 53, sec. 23; R. v. Bush, 8 C. L. T. 131; R. v. Bennett, 1 Ont. R., 445; Ex parte Williamson, 24 Supr. Ct., (N. B.) 64. (3) R. S. O., c. 71, sec. 3. persons so appointed have all the powers, authorities, rights and privileges and are subject to all the duties, obligations and responsibilities conferred or imposed upon justices of the peace. (1) In the province of Quebec the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may also from time to time appoint justices of the peace with jurisdiction extending outside the territorial limits assigned to any district or county in the province and over places which, though comprised within the limits of a district, are in remote parts of the province; and, in regard to any such justice, it is not necessary for him to be resident within or to possess any property qualification whatever in that part of the province for which he may be appointed or over which his jurisdiction may extend.(2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, moreover, by special commission, appoint one or more justices of the peace with jurisdiction extending over the whole of the province of Quebec, or over such districts as may be named in such special commission; every justice so appointed being invested with all the rights and powers of one or more justices of the peace; and it being unnecessary for him to reside or possess real estate in the province. (3) In each of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the Lieutenant-Governor may appoint, in and for the several and respective counties of the Province, such justices of the peace as may be deemed expedient and proper. (4) The Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Territories of Canada may appoint justices of the peace, with jurisdiction as such throughout the Territories. (5) And the Governor-General of Canada in Council, or such person as he deputes for the purpose, may appoint game guardians in the North West Territories to carry out the provisions of the North West Game Preservation Act, 1894; and, after taking the oath of office prescribed by the Act, every game guardian so appointed has, for the purposes of the Act, within the district for which he is appointed game guardian, all (1) R. S. Q., Arts. 2545, 2562. (2) Ib., Arts. 2565, 2566. (3) R. S. Q., Arts. 2572, 2573, 2574. (4) R. S. N. S. (1884), c. 101, sec. 1; C. S. N. B. (1877), c. 29, sec. 1. (5) R. S. C., c. 50, sec. 64 ; 57 & 58 Vic. c. 17, sec. 7. the powers of a Justice of the Peace in and for the North West Territories. (1) In Manitoba, justices of the peace may be appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in or for any city, town or other municipality in the Province, or for the whole Province; and they must be chosen from the most competent persons dwelling in the places for which they are appointed. (2) And the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba-who is ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor also of Keewatin, a separate district of the North West Territories-is authorized to appoint justices of the peace for the Keewatin district. (3) In British Columbia, justices of the peace may be appointed in and for any county or electoral district in the Province, or in or for any less extensive jurisdiction. (4) The Commission appointing justices of the peace may be general or special. It is a general commission of the peace when it names or replaces all the justices of a certain district, county or place; and it is special when it names one or more justices to be added to the general commission. The commission, whether general or special, bears the signature of the Lieutenant-Governor and the great seal of the Province where it is issued. It is addressed to the persons therein named, and it is sent to and remains deposited with the clerk of the peace. Property Qualification. With regard to a justice of the peace who is such ex officio, no property qualification is required of him, and some of the statutes expressly declare that the provisions of the law as to property qualification shall not apply to the Members of Her Majesty's Executive Council, nor to the Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature, or of the courts of Queen's Bench or of the County courts, nor to any police magistrate, nor to Her Majesty's Attorney-General, nor to any of Her Ma (1) 57 and 58 Vict., c. 31, sec. 22, (3) R. S. C., c. 53, ss. 3, 4, 23. (4) 55 Vict. (B. C.), c. 29, sec. 6. |