Administration of Justice (Divorce, &c.) decrees and orders of a civil nature of the Supreme Court: Provided always, that the power hereby given to appeal as aforesaid, shall not extend, or be construed to extend, in any manner to abridge the right of any party to appeal direct to Her Majesty her heirs and successors in her or their Privy Council, in such manner, within such time, and under and subject to such rules, regulations, and limitations as Her Majesty, her heirs, and successors in her or their Privy Council shall or may from time to time think fit to make in the premises. 62. When the time limited for appealing against any decree dissolving a marriage or against any decree for nullity of marriage shall have expired, and no appeal shall have been presented against such decree, or when any such appeal shall have been dismissed, or when in the result of any appeal any marriage shall be declared to be dissolved or to be null and void, but not sooner, it shall be lawful for the respective parties thereto to marry again, as if the prior marriage had been dissolved by death: Provided always that no clergyman in holy orders of the United Church of England and Ireland shall be compelled to solemnise the marriage of any person whose former marriage has been dissolved on the ground of his or her adultery, or shall be liable to any suit, penalty or censure, for solemnising or refusing to solemnise the marriage of any such person. 63. Provided always, that when any minister of any church or chapel of the United Church of England and Ireland shall refuse to perform such marriage service between any persons who but for such refusal would be entitled to have the same service performed in such church or chapel, such minister shall permit any other minister in holy orders of the said United Church, entitled to officiate within the diocese in which such church or chapel is situate, to perform such marriage service in such church or chapel. 64. After this Ordinance shall have passed no action shall be No action in maintained in Western Australia for criminal conversation. 65. The fees taken in the Registry of the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes shall be paid over to the Colonial Treasurer, to the use of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, for the public uses of the Colony and in support of the Government thereof. 66. All rules and regulations concerning practice or procedure, or fixing and regulating fees, which may be made by the Court under this Ordinance, shall be laid before the Legislative Council within one month after the making thereof, if the Council be then sitting, otherwise the same shall be laid before the said Council at the next meeting thereof. J. S. HAMPTON, GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Western Australia for criminal conversation Fees taken in the Registry of the over to Colonial Court to be paid Treasurer Rules to be laid lative Council before the Legis Preamble 6 Wil. IV., No. 2, of 1836, and 6 Vic., No. 13, of 1842, repealed Governor may by Local Courts An Ordinance for the Recovery of Small Debts and WE HEREAS it is expedient to facilitate proceedings for the recovery of small debts and demands: Be it therefore enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Western Australia and its Dependencies, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, as follows: 1. On and after the date on which this Ordinance shall come into operation the Ordinances of the Governor and Legislative Council, 6th William IV., No. 2, of 1836, and the 6th Victoria, No. 13, of 1842, shall be and the same are hereby respectively repealed, save and except so far as relates to anything heretofore lawfully done in pursuance thereof; all proceedings which shall have been commenced and shall be still pending in any Court under the said recited Ordinances shall be continued heard and determined under the provisions hereof, and all records and all papers connected with the proceedings of the said Court shall within three months after the date on which this Ordinance shall come into operation be deposited with the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and remain in his custody and keeping. 2. It shall be lawful for the Governor from time to time and at any notice constitute time by proclamation published in the Western Australian Government Gazette,' to constitute Local Courts for the recovery of small debts and demands, to be holden at such times and places and within such districts throughout the said Colony as may be most fit and convenient, and as may be specified in such proclamation, and likewise by proclamation, to alter the time or place or manner of holding any such Courts, which Courts respectively shall be and are hereby declared to be Courts of Record. Magistrates to be appointed Definition of term The Magistrate' Clerks and 3. It shall be lawful for the Governor from time to time to nominate and appoint such and so many Justices of the Peace as may be deemed fit and proper, to exercise the powers conferred on them by this Ordinance and the term 'The Magistrate,' wheresoever occurring in this Ordinance, shall be understood to mean the Magistrate so nominated and appointed. 4. Such Courts shall have such Clerks, Bailiffs and other ministerial officers, as shall be necessary for the administration of justice and the execution of the judgments, orders and process of such Courts, and all such officers shall be appointed and removable by the Governor at pleasure; and shall execute such other duties as shall be assigned to them respectively by this Ordinance or the general rules and orders to be made in pursuance thereof. Recovery of Small Debts 5. Every Clerk of such Court shall issue all summonses, warrants and writs of execution, and register all orders, judgments and proceedings of Court, and shall take charge of and keep an account of all Court fees and fines payable or paid into Court, and of all moneys paid into and out of Court, and shall enter such account in a book belonging to such Court, to be kept by him for that purpose, and shall from time to time, whensoever and in such form and manner as he shall be ordered by the Governor, submit his accounts to be audited or settled by the Auditor-General. Duties of Clerks, accounts and their Court may be exercised by The Magisin conjunction with one or more Justices trate' alone, or ordinary 6. In every case cognizable under this Ordinance, it shall be lawful Power of the for the Magistrate alone or associated with any other Justice or Justices of the Peace attending at the prescribed time and place in open Court, to exercise the powers of such Court, such Magistrate presiding thereat; and in all cases of issuing any summons or warrant, taking any recognizance or enlarging, continuing, or adjourning any proceedings, and in all incidental or interlocutory proceedings under this Ordinance or any general rule or order made and confirmed in pursuance thereof, it shall be lawful for any one or more Justice or Justices of the Peace attending at the prescribed time and place and in open Court to exercise the powers of such Court. Provided that when two or more Justices of the Peace and the Magistrate shall form such Court, the decision of the major part of them shall be taken and recorded as the judgment of the Court. And provided that during the unavoidable absence of the Magistrate, or in any case in which he shall be personally interested, it shall be competent for any two or more Justices of the Peace to exercise the powers of the Court. 7. Where by reason of the death or unavoidable absence of the Magistrate or Justices of the Peace aforesaid, such Court cannot be held, the Clerk, or, in the event of his absence, the Bailiff, shall adjourn the Court to such day as he may deem convenient, and enter in the minute-book the cause of such adjournment. In case of death journ the Court Clerk may ad 8. All pleas or personal actions where the debt or damage claimed Definition of the is not more than fifty pounds, whether on a balance of account or the Court jurisdiction of otherwise, may be holden in a Court constituted under this Ordinance, and shall be heard and determined in a summary way: Provided that no such Court shall have cognizance of any action of ejectment, or in which the title to any corporeal or incorporeal hereditaments or to any toll, fare, market, or any fee of office, shall be in question, or in which the validity of any devise, bequest, or limitation under any will or settlement may be disputed, or for any malicious prosecution, or for any libel or slander, or for criminal conversation, or for seduction, or breach of promise of marriage. plaint 9. On the application of any person desirous to bring a suit under Suits to be by this Ordinance, the Clerk of the Court shall enter in a book to be kept for that purpose in his office, a plaint in writing, stating the names and the last known places of abode of the parties, and the substance of the action intended to be brought, every one of which plaints shall be numbered in every year, according to the order in which it shall be entered, and thereupon a summons, stating the substance of the action, and bearing the number of the plaint in the margin thereof, shall be issued according to such form, and be served on the defendant so many Summons to the nearest Court Demands not to be divided for the purpose of bringing two or more suits Minors may sue for wages Partnership and intestacy Executors may sue and be sued No privilege allowed One of several persons liable may be sued Recovery of Small Debts days before the day on which the Court shall be holden at which the cause is to be tried, as shall be directed by the rules made for regulating the practice of the Court as hereafter provided, and delivery of such summons to the defendant, or in such other manner as shall be specified in the rules of practice, shall be deemed good service; and no misnomer or inaccurate description of any person or place in any such plaint or summons shall vitiate the same, so that the person or place be therein described as to be commonly known. 10. [Repealed by 58 Vic., No. 18.] 11. It shall not be lawful for any plaintiff to divide any cause of action for the purpose of bringing two or more suits in any of the said Courts, but any plaintiff having cause of action for more than the sum for which a plaint might be entered under this Ordinance, may abandon the excess, and thereupon the plaintiff shall, on proving his case, recover to an amount not exceeding the sum competent to be awarded by such Court, and the judgment of the Court upon such plaint shall be in full discharge of all demands in respect of such cause of action, and entry of the judgment shall be made accordingly. 12. It shall be lawful for any person under the age of twenty-one years to prosecute any suit in any Court holden under this Ordinance for any sum of money within the amount competent to be awarded as aforesaid, which may be due to him for wages or piece-work, or for work as a servant, in the same manner as if he were of full age. 13. The jurisdiction of the Court holden under this Ordinance shall extend to the recovery of any demand not exceeding the sum of fifty pounds, which is the whole or part of the unliquidated balance of a partnership account, or the amount or part of the amount of a distributive share under an intestacy, or of a legacy under a will. 14. It shall be lawful for any executor or administrator to sue and be sued in any Court holden under this Ordinance in like manner as if he were a party in his own right; and judgment and execution shall be such as in the like case would be given or issued in any superior Court. 15. No privilege, except as herein excepted, shall be allowed to any person to exempt him from the jurisdiction of any Court holden under this Ordinance. 16. Where any plaintiff shall have any demand recoverable under this Ordinance against two or more persons jointly answerable, it shall be sufficient if any of such persons be served with process, and judgment may be obtained and execution issued against the person or persons so served, notwithstanding that others jointly liable may not have been served or sued, or may not be within the jurisdiction of the Court, and every such person against whom judgment shall have been obtained under this Ordinance, and who shall have satisfied such judgment, shall be entitled to demand and recover in the Courts holden under this Ordinance, contribution from any other person jointly liable with him. Recovery of Small Debts 17. Within the time named on the day in that behalf named in the summons the plaintiff shall appear, and thereupon the defendant shall be required to appear to answer such plaint; and on answer being made in Court, the Court shall proceed, without further pleadings or formal joinder of issue, in a summary way to try the cause without a jury and give judgment. 18. No evidence shall be given by the plaintiff on the trial of any such case as aforesaid of any demand or cause of action, except such as shall be stated in the summons hereby directed to be issued. 19. No defendant in any Court holden under this Ordinance shall be allowed to set off any debt or demand claimed or recoverable by him from the plaintiff, or to set up by way of defence and to claim and have the benefit of infancy coverture or any Statute of Limitations, or of his discharge under any statute or law relating to bankrupts or to insolvents without the consent of the plaintiff, unless such notice thereof as shall be directed by the said rules of practice shall have been given to the Clerk of the Court; and in every case in which the practice of the Court shall require such notice to be given, the Clerk of the Court shall, as soon as conveniently may be after receiving such notice, communicate the same to the plaintiff by the post, or by causing the same to be delivered at his usual place of abode or business, but it shall not be necessary for the defendant to prove that such notice was communicated to the plaintiff by the Clerk. Proceeding on hearing the plaint No evidence to demand that is be given of any not in summons Notice to be special defences, who shall comsame to the plaintiff given to Clerk of municate the settled by arbitration 20. The Court may in any case, with the consent of both parties Suits may be to the suit, order the same, with or without other matters within the jurisdiction of the Court in dispute between such parties, to be referred to arbitration to such person or persons, and in such manner and on such terms, as the Court shall think reasonable and just; and such reference shall not be revocable by either party, except by consent of the Court, and the award of the arbitrator or arbitrators or umpire shall be entered as the judgment in the cause, and shall be as binding and effectual to all intents as if given by the Court. Provided that the Court may, if it think fit, on application at the first sitting thereof held after the expiration of one week after the entry of such award, set aside any such award so given as aforesaid, or may, with the consent of both parties aforesaid, revoke the reference or order another reference to be made in manner aforesaid. when plaintiff does not appear 21. If upon the day of the return of any summons or at any con- Proceedings tinuation or adjournment of the said Court, or of the cause for which the said summons shall have been issued, the plaintiff shall not appear, the cause shall be struck out; and if he shall appear, but shall not make proof of his claim or demand to the satisfaction of the said Court, it shall be lawful for the Court to nonsuit the said plaintiff, or to give judgment for the defendant; and in either case where the defendant shall appear and shall not admit the claim or demand to award to the defendant, by way of costs and satisfaction for his trouble and attendance, such sum as the Court in its discretion shall think fit; and such sum shall be recoverable from the plaintiff by such ways and means as any debt or damage ordered to be paid by the same Court can be recovered. Provided always that if the plaintiff shall not appear when called upon, and the defendant or some one duly authorised on his |