Application of Highway Rates to repair of Turnpike Roads, 2 & 3 Vic. c. 81.]-By sect. 1, justices at any special sessions for the highways upon information exhibited before them by the clerk or the treasurer of any turnpike trust, that the funds of the said trust are wholly insufficient for the repair of the turnpike road within any parish (notice in writing of such intended information having been previously given on the part of such clerk or treasurer, to the parish surveyor twentyone days at least before such special sessions), may examine the state of the revenues and debts of such turnpike trust, and inquire into the state and condition of the repairs of the roads within the same, and also ascertain the length of the roads, including turnpike roads, within such parish, and how much of such roads is turnpike road; and if after such examination it shall appear to the said justices necessary or expedient for the purpose of any turnpike road so to do, they may adjudge and order what portion (if any) of the rate or assessment levied or to be levied, by virtue of 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 50, shall be paid by the said parish surveyor, and at what time or times, to the said commissioners or trustees, or to their treasurer, or other officer appointed by them in that behalf; such money to be wholly laid out in the actual repair of such part of such turnpike road as lies within the parish from which it was received (r).

Justices acting in every Petty Sessions Division shall, four times at least in every Year, hold a Special Sessions to hear Appeals against Poor Rates,-6 & 7 W. IV. c. 96, s. 6.]-In order to lessen the cost of appeal against an unfair poor rate, it is now enacted by the parochial assessment act, that the justices acting in and for every petty sessions division, shall, four times at least in every year, hold a special sessions for hearing appeals against the rates of the several parishes within their respective divisions, and shall cause public notice of the time and place when and where such special sessions will be holden, to be affixed to or near the door of the parish church of the said parishes, twenty-eight days at the least before the holding of the

4 Ad. & El. 156.

See post, Indictment for not repairing a highway.

(r) If any such parish surveyor refuse or neglect to pay over such portion of the rate or assessment at the time and in the manner mentioned in the order, the same to be levied on his goods, &c. in the same manner as penalties under the 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 50, are authorized to be levied, s. 3.

Party aggrieved may appeal to next

general or quarter sessions, first giving ten days' notice, together with a statement in writing of the grounds of appeal, within six days after the making of the order, &c. Id. s. 4. Justices at quarter sessions may award costs, ibid.

Act is to be in force for one year from its passing (24 August, 1839), and from thence to the end of the next session of parliament.

same; and such special sessions shall and may be adjourned from time to time by the justices there present, as they may think fit; and at such special or adjourned sessions the justices there present shall hear and determine all objections to any such rate on the ground of inequality, unfairness, or incorrectness in the valuation of any hereditaments included therein, which decision shall be binding and conclusive on the parties, unless the person or persons impugning such decision shall, within fourteen days after the same shall have been made, cause notice to be given in writing of his, her, or their intention of appealing against such decision, and of the matter or cause of such appeal, to the person or persons in whose favour such decision shall have been made, and within five days after giving such notice shall enter into recognizance before some justice of the peace, with sufficient securities conditioned to try such appeal at the then next general sessions or quarter sessions of the peace, which shall first happen, and to abide the order of, and pay such costs, as shall be awarded by the justices at such quarter sessions, or any adjournment thereof; and such justices, upon hearing and finally determining such matter of appeal, shall and may, according to their discretion, award such costs to the party or parties appealed against as they shall think proper; and their determination in or concerning the premises shall be conclusive and binding on all parties to all intents and purposes whatsoever (s): provided always, that no such objection shall be inquired into by the said justices in special session, unless notice of such objection in writing, under the hand of the complainant, shall have been given seven days at least before the day appointed for such special session, to the collector, overseers, or other persons by whom such rate was made; provided also, that the said justices in special session shall not be authorized to inquire into the liability of any hereditaments to be rated, but only into the true value thereof, and into the fairness of the amount at which the same shall have been rated (†).

The justices present at such special or adjourned sessions shall, for

(8) R. v. St. Alban's (Justices), 8 Ad. & E. 932; 1 Per. & Dav. 148. It is enough for the purposes of the appeal, if the recognizance is verbally acknowledged within the five days before a justice, and if an entry of it is then made in the minute-book of the petty sessions, such book being then signed by the chairman; for a recognizance is no more than an acknowledgment, as the record of it may be afterwards made up from such entry at any time before it

is sent to the clerk of the peace at the next quarter sessions.

Quære. Whether the quarter sessions could inquire whether the recognizance had been entered into or not?

Semble. That if the record of it was delivered to the clerk of the peace without the signature of one of the justices before whom the recognizance was taken, it might be so signed at any time before the hearing of the appeal.

(t) 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 96, s. 6.

the aforesaid purpose, have all the powers of amending or quashing any such rate so objected to of any parish or district within their division, and likewise of awarding costs to be paid by or to any of the parties, and of recovering such costs which any court of quarter sessions of the peace has, upon appeals from any such rate, except as herein excepted: provided always, that no order of the said justices shall be removed by certiorari or otherwise into any of her Majesty's courts of record at Westminster; and that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to deprive any person or persons of the right to appeal against any rate to any court of general or quarter sessions: provided also, that no order of the said justices in special session shall be of any force pending any appeal touching the same subject matter to the court of general or quarter sessions of the peace having jurisdiction to try such appeal, or in opposition to the order of any such court upon such appeal (t).

Weights and Measures.]-Inspectors of weights and measures, formerly appointed at special sessions, under 37 G. III. c. 143, are now appointed in counties by the justices of the peace in general or quarter sessions assembled, pursuant to 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 63, s. 17.

In general, when an appeal to general or general quarter sessions is given from any petty session, special petty session, or special session, it is given to parties aggrieved by any thing done there; and, therefore, if the inferior tribunal makes no order, e. g. if it dismisses a complaint, &c., no appeal in general lies; but this is held otherwise on the wording of 3 G. IV. c. 33, s. 2 & 7, for recovering against the hundred damages sustained from rioters, and not exceeding £30, if the complaint is dismissed by the special petty sessions there mentioned, not on the merits, but on a mistaken notion of the law (u).

SECTION IV.

OF GENERAL SESSIONS: HOW, AND BY WHOM CONVened. General Sessions of the Peace.]—A general sessions of the peace is a court of record holden before two or more justices, whereof one is

(t) 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 96, s. 7. (u) Rex v. Tucker, 3 B. & Cr. 544; 5 Dowl. & R. 434.

N.B.-The "special petty sessions" in this act, to mean a

seems,

special

session," properly so called, i. e. one of which every justice in the division has notice. See 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 96, s. 6, ante, p. 46.

of the quorum, for execution of the general authority given to justices by the commission of the peace and certain acts of parliament (v).

The only description of the above general sessions which is usually holden in modern times is the court of general quarter sessions (w); but in the county of Middlesex, besides the four quarter sessions, four general sessions are held in the intervals, and original intermediate (a) sessions also occasionally take place. As the statutes requiring general sessions to be held at particular times are merely directory, there is no ground for the doubt at one time expressed, whether by law justices have power to hold sessions more frequently than once a quarter for sessions so held are clearly legal indeed 2 H. V. st. 1, c. 4, s. 2, after pointing out at what parts of the year the four sessions shall be held, adds, " and more often if need be." But in counties where, from the occasional arrear of business, particularly of smaller offences before the spring and summer circuits, it is desirable that sessions shall take place more frequently than once a quarter, it is the modern practice to adjourn the last preceding quarter session to some intermediate day before the time for holding the next original quarter session, instead of holding an extra original general session (y). It has also been recently decided in a Middlesex case that the holding original intermediate general sessions without adjournment of the last preceding quarter session, is perfectly legal upon issuing a new precept to the sheriff, and new summonses to the jurors (z).

How called together.]-A general session may be called by any two justices within the jurisdiction, one being of the quorum, or by the custos rotulorum and one justice; but not by one justice or by the custos rotulorum alone (a). The presence of two justices is necessary to its being held (b), or even adjourned so as to hold it legally (c) at another time.

(r) Dalton, c. 185; Cro. Circ. C. 13; 5 Burn's J., tit. Sessions; Lambard, 379.

"Ses

(w) In common parlance general ses. sions are the same as quarter sessions, Lambard, B. 4, c. 19, p. 593. sions" in old statutes, means the general congregation of justices of the county, &c. (12 R. II. c. 10; 14 R. II. c. 11), whether special (Lambard B. 4, ch. 20, p. 623), or general, as distinguished from petty sessions, which have only received powers, from modern acts, in order to prevent one justice from acting alone in cases of importance. See the argument in Reg. v. Watkinson, 2 P.

& D. 622.

(x) See R. v. Mullaney, 6 C. & P. 96.

(y) This is a legal course. See R. v. Grince, T. 4 G. I.; 19 Vin. Ab. 358, and the opinion given by the law officers in 1815, on a case submitted to them by the Justices of Staffordshire. 5 Burn's J., 24th edit. (Chetwynd) 203, n(a); R. v. West Torrington, Burr. S. C. 293. (z) R. v. Mullaney, 6 C. & P. 96, n. ; see Bushy v. Watson, post, 47, n. (a) Lambard, 375.

(b) 1 Bla. C. 354, n.; 5 Burn's Just. 582, 28th ed.

(c) R. v. Westrington, 1 Bott, 733. See 2 Stra. 1264, R. v. Polstead.

F

The clause in the commission, "that the sheriff shall cause a jury to appear at such days and places as the said justices, or any two or more of them as aforesaid shall appoint," confers the authority on two justices to convene a general session. This is done by issuing a precept under their hands and seals, addressed to the sheriff, requiring him to summon the proposed session of the peace for general purposes, at some day not less than fifteen days from the date of the precept (d), to return a grand and petit jury, and give notice throughout his bailiwick to jurors, coroners, gaolers, stewards, constables, and bailiffs of liberties, whose attendance is requisite (e). The precept to the sheriff is necessary in order that he may summon all the persons who are bound to attend as constituent parts of a court of criminal jurisdiction, called together by the same instrument. This difference in the object of a general sessions, as distinguished from a special sessions, accounts also for the difference of the mode in which the two courts are assembled. The issue of such a precept to the sheriff is absolutely requisite to compel any person whatever to attend a general session, or to expose him to the penalty of absence. But it is not absolutely necessary to the holding such a session, that a regular precept should be issued; for if it be irregular, but two or more justices, the jury, and all persons necessary to hold a sessions appear, the proceedings of that sessions, if regularly transacted, will be valid (f).

A supersedeas out of Chancery is the only authority capable of superseding a precept duly issued by two justices for holding a general session (g); and though it was formerly said that two or more general sessions might lawfully be holden at one time within the same county on precepts issued to the sheriff by different sets of justices, the service at one of which would discharge the juror, &c., from service at the others (h), it is very doubtful since R. v. Sainsbury (i), whether either general session so held would be valid (j); and it is certain that if attempts to hold such several sessions were made without apparently good reason, or for sinister purposes of harassing parties, &c., &c., the justices issuing them would be liable to indictment or information, and would afford reason to the Lord Chancellor for striking their names out of the commission (k).

(d) Lamb. B. 4, c. 20; 2 Hawk. B. 2, c. 8, s. 50; 5 Burn, 28th ed. (Chitty) 587. (e) Dalton, c. 185, gives the form of this precept or warrant. See 2 Hawk.

B. 2, c. 8, s. 49.

(f) Lamb. 367, cited and approved in R. v. Corporation of Ipswich, 2 Lord Raym. 1237, 1238.

(g) Com. D. Justices of Peace (D3);

2 Hawk. B. 2, c. 8, s. 51.
(h) Lambard, 377.
(i) 4 T. R. 451.

(j) For it is to make two courts of that which should be entire and but one, the justices not being required or enabled to hold more than one session at a time. Dalt. c. 185.

(k) See Dalton, c. 185.