Rewiew: Jones's History of the French Bar. 125 inquiry which has been instituted in this the Probation and to the table. Relative country, under Royal authority, and the and absolute incompatibility. and its government. No. 1. Admission: 1. Admission properly so called. 2. Continuation of probation. 4. The inference. Report of the Commissioners, which has Section I. Probation: Admission to probation just been published, render the subject of Legal Education peculiarly interesting at the present time. In our last and present Numbers we have put our readers in possession of the general views of the Commissioners for improving the English system of Legal Education, and Mr. Jones's volume will form a valuable addition to the information which the Commissioners have collected. The introduction to the work describes the French Constitution and the Laws establishing and regulating the Imperial Dignity. The First Part treats of the French Courts of Law, their Officers and Practitioners, under the following heads : 1. The Tribunal of Justice of the Peace. 2. The Tribunal of First Instance, or Civil Tribunal. 3. The Tribunal of Commerce. 4. The Courts of Appeal. 5. The Courts of Assize. 9. The High Court of Justice. 10. The Council of Prud 'hommes. These form the first section, and the second relates to the Public Ministry. The Second Part relates to the system of Legal Education in France, viz.,-1. Crea No. 2. The Government: 1. The surveillance of probationers. 2. The duration of probation. Abbreviation of probation. 3. The prolongation of probation. Section II. The Table. 3. The formation of the Table. 2nd. The Judicial attributes of the Council: 1. The omission from probation at the Table. 2. The disciplinary favours. We come next to the Rights and Duties of the Profession : : the inscribed advocates ;-the probationary 1. The rights or attributes of advocacy ;advocates. 1st. The general duties. 2nd. The duties of the advocate towards his clients tion of the University of France. Division 2. The duties of the advocates, or the rules of the Universities into Academies. Esta- of the Profession. blishment of the Faculties. 2. On the administrative organization of the University. 3. Creation of the Schools of Law, afterwards called Faculties. 4. Preliminaries. 5. The Studies, Examinations, and Degrees. 6. Annual Prizes in the Faculties of Law. The Third Part comprises a History of the French Bar, ancient and modern; and herein-1. Of the Advocate, the order of Advocates, and the Council of the order, its composition, mode of proceeding, and attributes. 3rd. The duties of the advocate towards his brethren. 4th. The duties of the advocate towards the Judges. We proceed now to the description which Mr. Jones has given of the Practitioners in the Tribunals of First Instance or Civil Tribunals, the most important of whom is the Avoué or Attorney: "It is the province of these officers to repreThe Author then treats-I. Of the com- the respective Courts or Tribunals to which sent and defend the parties to an action before position of the Council, the President and they are attached. As the representative of other Functionaries. II. Of the Sittings, the parties, it is their duty to postulate and Deliberations, and Decisions of the Council. conclude. Postulate, is to do all acts necessary III. The attributes of Council, administra- in the procedure of the action, and to go tive and judicial :—Administrative attri- through all the formalities in order to place the butes applicable to probation, the table, and Judges in a position to come to a decision. the assistance of Council. Incompatibilities, form of abridged propositions, the claims of the Conclude, is to present to the Judges in the a question prejudicial and common both to parties. When charged with the defence, these 126 Review: Jones's History of the French Bar. attorneys address a document to the Judges, called a requéte, in which they show the means of defence of their clients, and may even in some cases, present the defence orally. They are also heard on summary matters and incidents. officers in regard to the public as to the different acts of their ministry, and from which it results that their services are obligatory. The text of the articles is as follows: Art. 85. Every usher who shall refuse to act in any proceedings taken at the instance of the public ministry, or who shall refuse to do such service as he is bound to do at his Court or Tribunal, and who, after injunction made to him by the competent officer, shall persist in such refusal, shall be deprived of his functions, without prejudice to damages, and all such other punishment as he may have incurred.'Art. 42. Ushers are bound to exercise their ministry on all occasions when required, without exception of persons, saving such cases of relationship or affinity as are specified by Articles 4 and 66, of the Code of Civil Procedure. Art. 85 of the decree of the 18th June, 1811, shall be applied to any usher who, without a lawful excuse, shall refuse to act on the request of any indi "It being important that the functions of an attorney should be exercised only by persons who offer the guarantee which the law requires, severe penalties are enacted against any individuals, as well as their accomplices, who should unlawfully act in such a capacity. The ministry of an attorney is obligatory, and the tribunal can compel him to appear for a party if necessary, but he must refuse to act when retained by the adverse party, or in the case of an action which is forbidden by law. An attorney may act for any person or persons, even for himself; in which he differs from the notary and usher: the reason of which being, that these latter, in acting, give a public testimony to which faith is due, and cannot, there-vidual.' fore, give themselves to themselves; whereas "These officers have also other attributes. an attorney is instituted, not to give any par- It is they for the most part, who protest all bills ticular character to any particular act, but solely that, in the interest of justice and the parties, the proceedings may be carried on according to the prescribed forms, which they can do as well for themselves as for others. They are named by the Sovereign on the presentation of the Court or Tribunal before which they intend to practise. They must be at least 25 years of age, have served a clerkship of five years, have gone through a certain course of studies in a Faculty of Law, passed an examination both in criminal and civil law and procedure, and have obtained a certificate of capacity from the said Faculty. Their number is limited according to the importance of the Court or Tribunal to which they belong. The attorneys practising in the Tribunals of First As to the Greffier, or Registrar, who is Instance form a distinct body from those who also a public officer attached to each denopractise before a Court of Appeal, with dist-mination of Court or Tribunal, (the Author inct powers and attributes, and cannot in adds,) that in some instances he also proany way act the one for the other. No at-ceeds to the sale of goods and chattels by torney can practice before a Tribunal of Justice of Peace." Another kind of public ministerial officer belonging to all Courts and Tribunals in France, is the Huissier, or Usher, which there can be no doubt is a corruption of the French word; but he is a person quite unknown to the English judicial system. of exchange, promissory notes, &c., the French notary, although competent, scarcely ever performing this public act, but confining himself more to the business of a conveyance, as we shall presently show. It is they also who make seizure after judgment, and sometimes also proceed to sell the goods and chattels by public sale or auction. It is their province also to execute all writs of arrest, whether in civil or commercial matters, except in the department of the Seine, as we shall see when speaking of the Guards of Commerce. They are limited in number, and are appointed according to the exigency of the respective localities to which their practice is confined." public sale or auction, having in this re- While speaking of such public officers as may also be called practitioners, Mr. Jones observes, it will perhaps be well to offer a few remarks on the Public Notary, such as we find him in France, although he "Ushers are officers of justice appointed to cannot be looked upon in the light of an cite the parties before the Courts and Tribunals, officer practising in, or at, any Court or and to make known, and to put into execution, Tribunal, but simply within the jurisdicthe orders and judgments thereof. The word tion or circumscription of some Court or huissier is derived from an old French word Tribunal. huis, which signifies door; for, independently of the duties we have just spoken of, they act as the doorkeepers of the different Courts to which they are attached, and are charged with the keeping of good order in Court during the sittings. The Article 85, of the decree of the 18th June, 1811, and Art. 42, of the decree of the 14th June, 1813, fix the obligations of these "It is the more necessary to draw particular attention to the attributes of this public ministerial officer, as they differ so widely from those of the English notary, and therefore they should not be confounded or taken the one for the other. The French notary is, in fact, an officer appointed to receive all acts and con office, duties, and rights of Advocates; and then proceed to the consideration of the stringent system of Legal Education in France. Mr. Jones, in his Preface, observes that tracts to which the parties ought, or wish, to give the character of authenticity attached to acts of public authority, to insure their date, to keep them in his custody, and to deliver copies and duplicates of the same. He possesses also the right and privilege of drawing and prepar ing the said instruments; he is, in fact, the "It will be readily conceded by every reaconveyancer in France. We have already sonable mind that there is much room for imstated that a notary is a competent officer to provement in England in the studies of the protest bills of exchange, promissory notes, &c. legal tyro. We have only to contrast the state The first paragraph of Art. 173 of the Code of of things existing in this respect in the UniCommerce is to the following effect: Protests, versities of Holland, Germany, and France, and for want of acceptance or payment, are made we shall at once be astonished and even surby two notaries, or by one notary and two wit-prised to imagine how we as a body (supposed nesses, or by an usher and two witnesses;' al- to be learned) can have remained so long conthough in practice it is a rare occurrence to tented with a system which offers no guarantee have recourse to a notary, the usher being the for the privileges it bestowes, and where fortune usual officer employed when a protest becomes and family too often usurp the place of talent necessary. A notary is also competent in many and learning! Such is not the case, however, cases to sell by public auction, as in the case in the countries I have above mentioned. of minors, successions, &c., though he must There, no distinction, rank, or privilege is to not be confounded with the auctioneer, who is be obtained by the legal aspirant, but by long a separate and distinct public officer. The and arduous study; and whatever position the sale of real property, whether by public auction Student holds, or may afterwards hold, whator private contract, is usually effected by the ever may be the ultimate title affixed to his notary, except in the case of a sale in conse- name, he owes it entirely to his own merit, and quence of a judgment obtained in a Court or may fearlessly assert that he has fully earned it." Tribunal, in which case it falls within the province of the attorney in the cause. We heartily recommend the work to the attention of our readers. It comprises a learned, able, and interesting statement of the French Courts, an historical review of the Bar of France, and the course of Education, both general and legal, through which the student must pass in order to obtain the distinctions which are the just reward of persevering industry, learning, and talent. NUISANCES REMOVAL AND DIS- "Notaries exercise their functions as follows. In those places which are the seat of a Court of Appeal, their privilege extends over the whole jurisdiction of such Court of Appeal: in those places where there is only a Tribunal of First Instance, it extends over the jurisdiction of that Tribunal; and finally, as to those notaries who are located in other places, not being the seat of a Court of Appeal or Tribunal of First Instance, their privilege does not extend beyond the jurisdiction of the canton of the Justice of Peace within which they are situate. Notaries are expressly forbidden to act out of their respective jurisdiction under pain of suspension for three months, for the first offence, and of being deprived of their ministry for the ON all Statutes relating to the relief of second, besides being liable to damages, &c. the poor, and on all matters which come By an exception, however, to the above rule, under the administration or superintendence the Paris notary enjoys the privilege of being of the Poor Law Board, Mr. Lumley's a notary everywhere throughout the French books are almost authoritative. The Author Empire, and can therefore act as well in Stras-is officially so thoroughly familiar with that bourg or elsewhere, as in Paris. "There are certain formalities necessary branch of our municipal legislation of which all notarial acts, which are called in law, solem- he treats, and to which he has wisely connities; such as the presence of witnesses, the fined his labours, that we take up his book signature of the notary, that of the different on any new statute within the range of subparties, &c. This expression, solemnity, is very jects on which he writes, as one which is suitable, especially when applied to any solemn act, that is, to any act which would not be valid par excellence the book on that subject. without certain formalities, such as the act of donation; but it must here be taken for the formalities in general. to "Public notaries are named for life, and are bound to lend their ministry whenever required. Their number is limited according to the wants of their respective jurisdictions." In this opinion we are again justified by this new work of Mr. Lumley. In the Introduction the Author explains the Law on the subject of Nuisances, &c., and the 1 The Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Acts of 1855. With Introduction, Notes, and Index. By W. G. Lumley, BarWe shall take an early opportunity of rister, Assistant Secretary of the Poor Law noticing the Author's statement of the Board. Knight & Co., 90, Fleet Street. 128 Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention.-Court of Judicature Act. divisions shall be holden within the station of Prince of Wales Island before the said governor or president and the resident councillor for the time being of the station where the same shall be held, and before the other Judge, who shall be called the Recorder of Prince of Wales Island, and that all the powers of the said Court of Judicature shall and may be exercised by each of the said Courts or divisions, together with various other provisions concern extent of the Statutory powers for their | Singapore, and the other of which Courts or suppression and removal conferred by the Statute on the different local authorities in the country. To the sections of the Statute itself are added notes and references of the highest practical value, chiefly as explaining several doubts and removing many difficulties which present themselves on the first perusal of the Act. A copious Index completes the treatise, which is about the cheapest law book (the price being half-a-ing the same: And whereas, in consequence of crown) we have seen for some time. COURT OF JUDICATURE ACT. PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND. 18 & 19 VICT. c. 93. the alteration made by the last-mentioned letters patent in the constitution of the said Court of Judicature, it is desirable to amend the several Acts of Parliament hereinafter mentioned: Be it enacted, as follows: 1. The provisions contained in the Statute of the 6 Geo. 4, c. 85, s. 5, 7, 13, 14, and 16, respecting the recorder of the Court of Judica Sections 5, 7, 13, 14, and 16 of 6 Geo.ture of Prince of Wales Island, and respecting 4, c. 85, to apply to Recorders of Singapore and Prince of Wales Island; s. 1. Sum to be paid to recorders for equipment and voyage; s. 2. Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors may be held by either of the recorders; s. 3. Act 6 & 7 Wm. 4, c. 53, to apply to the present charter, which is confirmed; s. 4. As to allowances to Judges of the Supreme Courts in India on retirement; s. 5. An Act to amend certain Acts relating to the [14th August, 1855.] the grant of an allowance to him on retirement, and respecting the computation of the time of residence in case he shall be appointed a Judge of one of the Supreme Courts in India shall apply to the Recorder of Singapore and to the Recorder of Prince of Wales Island respectively, and residence partly as one and partly as the other of such recorders shall be reckon ed as if such residence had been wholly in the same capacity: Provided always, that (save and except only in the case of the present Recorder of Singapore, who was appointed to the office of Recorder of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca prior to the lastly-recited letters patent), it shall not be lawful to grant to any Recorder of Singapore or recorder of Prince of Wales Island any larger retiring allowance than the sum of 500l., unless he shall have resided as recorder for 10 years, nor if he shall have resided for that period any larger allowance than the sum of 8001. Whereas by letters patent of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, his said late Majesty 2. In lieu of the sum which by the Act of ordained that there should be within the settle- the 53 Geo. 3, c. 155, s. 89, is directed to be ment of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, paid to any recorder of Prince of Wales Island and Malacca a Court of Judicature to be for the expenses of his equipment and voyage, holden before the Governor and the Resident the Court of Directors of the East India ComCouncillor for the time being of the station pany shall pay to the person who by the said where the Court should be held, as two of the letters patent of her Majesty has been appointJudges of the said Court, and before one other ed Recorder of Prince of Wales Island, and to Judge called the Recorder of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca: And whereas every person to be hereafter appointed Recorder of Singapore or Recorder of Prince of Wales by letters patent of his late Majesty King Island who shall be resident in the United William the Fourth, granted under the powers Kingdom at the time of his appointment, for of the Act of the 6 & 7 Wm. 4, c. 83, his said the purpose of defraying the expenses of his late Majesty granted to the said Court of Judi- equipment and voyage, the sum of 5002. cature the powers of a Court of Admiralty: And whereas by letters patent of her present Majesty, granted in the present year of her reign, her said Majesty has ordained that the said Court of Judicature should consist of two Courts or divisions, one of which shall be holden within the stations of Singapore and Malacca before the governor or president and the resident councillor for the time being of the station, where the same shall be held, and before one other Judge called the Recorder of 3. The Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors, which by the Statute of the 11 & 12 Vict. c. 21, s. 88, is directed to be held within the said settlement, may henceforth be held by the Recorder of Singapore and by the Recorder of Prince of Wales Island respectively, each of whom is hereby empowered and required to hold such Court, and to appoint proper officers, assignees, and examiners for enabling the provisions of such Act to be carried into effect, Court of Julicature Act.-Religious Worship Act. and to establish rules as to the advocates and attorneys and agents who may practise in the said Court before such recorder; and the several other powers given by the said Act to the Court of Judicature of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca shall and ray be henceforth exercised by the governor of the said settlement and the said recorders, or by any two of them. 4. The Act of the 6 & 7 Wm. 4, c. 53, for enabling his late Majesty, by letters patent, to grant Admiralty jurisdiction to the Court of Judicature of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca, shall be construed to apply to the said letters patent or charter of her present Majesty, and such charter is hereby in all respects ratified and confirmed. 129 affecting assemblies for Religious Worship should be amended: And whereas by an Act passed in the 1 Wm. and M. Session 1. c. 18, intituled "An Act for exempting Their Majesties Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties of certain Laws," it is enacted that no congregation or assembly for religious worship shall be permitted or allowed until the place of such meeting shall be certified and registered or recorded as described in such Act; And whereas by an Act passed in the 52 Geo. 3, c. 155, intituled "An Act to repeal certain Acts, and to amend other Acts, relating to Religious Worship and Assemblies, and Persons teaching or preaching therein," it is enacted that no congregation or assembly for religious worship of protestants (at which there shall be present more than 20 persons, besides the immediate family and servants of the person in whose house or upon whose premises such meeting, congregation, or assembly shall be permitted or allowed unless the place of such meeting is certified as described in such Act, and that every person who shall knowingly permit or suffer any such congregation or assembly as aforesaid to meet in any place occupied by him, until the same shall have been so certified, shall forfeit for every time any such congregation or assembly shall meet a sum not exceeding 201. nor less than 20s., at the discretion of the justices who shall convict for such offence: Be it enacted as follows: 5. And whereas doubts have been entertained whether the provisions of the Act of the 6 Geo. 4, c. 85, respecting the grant of allow ances to the Judges of the Superior Courts in India on retirement, apply to cases where the required period of residence as a Judge has been partly as a Judge of one and partly as a Judge of another of the said Supreme Courts: Be it enacted, that for the purpose of the said last-mentioned provisions residence in India as a Judge of any of the said Supreme Courts (though such residence shall have been partly as a Judge of one of the said Supreme Courts and partly as a Judge of another of such Courts) shall be computed and reckoned as 1. From and after the passing of this Act residence as a Judge of the Supreme Court to which the Judge shall belong at the time of nothing contained in the above-mentioned Acts, his retirement: Provided always, that in the or in an Act passed in the 15 & 16 Vict. c. 36, case of any Judge retiring from the Supreme shall apply to the congregations or assemblies Court of Judicature at Fort William whose hereinafter-mentioned, or any of them, that is period of residence in India as a Judge shall to say, have been partly as a Judge of the Supreme Court at Madras or Bombay, it shall not be lawful to grant to such Judge any larger allowance than might have been granted if he had been during his whole period of residence a Judge of the Supreme Court at Madras or Bombay, unless he shall have resided as a Judge of the Supreme Court at Fort William for five years at the least. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP ACT. 18 & 19 VICT. c. 86. Reciting 1 W. & M. Sess. 1, c. 18; 52 Geo. 3, c. 155. No prosecution to be maintainable for assembling for religious worship in a place of meeting not certified; s. 1. Construction of certain parts of 2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 115, and 9 & 10 Vict. c. 59, as to places of Worship of Roman Catholics and Jews; s. 2. An Act for securing the Liberty of Religious Whereas it is expedient that the Laws (1.) To any congregation or assembly for religious worship held in any parish or any ecclesiastical district, and conducted by the incumbent, or in case the incumbent is not resident, by the curate of such parish or district, or by any person authorised by them respectively: (2.) To any congregation or assembly for religious worship meeting in a private dwelling house or on the premises belonging thereto : (3.) To any congregation or assembly for religious worship meeting occasionally in any building or buildings not usually appropriated to purposes of religious worship: And no person permitting any such congregation to meet as herein-mentioned in any place occupied by him shall be liable to any penalty for so doing. 2. So much of an Act passed in the 2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 115, as enacts that her Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Catholic religion, in respect to their places for religious worship, shall be subject to the same laws as the Protestant dissenters are subject to, and so |