Borough or county may provide places for holding petty sessions; and expense to be paid out Power of two or more authorities to agree and contract for common sessions house. As to the place wherein the petty sessions to be held, there are these statutory enactments : 12 & 13 Vict. c. 18, s. 2, enacts-"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, in any county, riding, liberty or division within England and Wales, or within any city, borough or town corporate within the same,-it shall be lawful for the justices of the peace for any such county, riding, liberty or division in general or quarter sessions assembled, and for the council or other governing body in any such city, borough, or town corporate, having a separate commission of the peace, respectively, if they shall respectively think fit, from time to time to direct that fit and proper places be hired or otherwise provided for the holding of such petty sessions of the peace within any such petty sessional division as aforesaid,—and that the expense thereof and attendant thereon be paid out of the county rate or borough fund respectively, as the case may be;-provided always, that no such direction for hiring or otherwise providing any place for the holding of such petty sessions shall be given by the justices of any such county, riding, liberty or division, so assembled as aforesaid, unless an application in writing 60 for that purpose, signed by the justices of the peace acting in such petty sessional division, or the major part of such justices, shall have been transmitted to the clerk of the peace six weeks at the least before the holding of the general or quarter sessions at which such directions shall be given ;-and the clerk of the peace shall cause notice of such application to be published in some newspaper circulating in the same county, riding, liberty or division, and in which the advertisements of county business are usually inserted, fourteen days at the least before the holding of such general or quarter sessions." A proviso permits the use of the County Court for this purpose, at such rent and on such conditions as may be agreed on. By the third section, when divisions run into two or more adjoining counties, the justices of all may appoint a place in either and jointly contribute to the expenses, in the manner provided by the 11 & 12 Vict. c. 101, with respect to lock-up houses on the borders of counties. By The Petty Sessions and Lock-up House Act, 1868," 31 Vict. c. 22 (which act is to be in addition to powers under other acts, s. 12), s. 4, "two or more local authorities [i.e. the quarter sessions in counties, &c., and in boroughs having a separate commission, the 60 Vide Form of Application, Oke's "Magisterial Formulist,” 6th ed. No. 13, "Miscellaneous Forms.' " council, s. 3, or a committee of them, s. 11] may, with the approval of one of her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, contract that a place for the holding of petty sessions [and special sessions, s. 3] by each of such authorities shall be provided at the joint expense of such authorities in such manner and proportions as in the said contract mentioned;" and by s. 5, "where any local authority is in possession of a convenient building for holding petty sessions [and special sessions, s. 3] or for transacting business authorized by any act of parliament to be performed by justices out of petty sessions [and special sessions, s. 3] any neighbouring local authority may contract with such former authority for the use, by themselves, of such building for such purposes or any of them, and may use the same accordingly." By s. 8, where such contract has been made in relation to any place for holding petty sessions, &c., "such place, for all purposes of and incidental to the holding of petty sessions [and special sessions, s. 3] and of the orders to be made and the other business to be transacted thereat, shall be deemed to be within the jurisdiction of each of such authorities respectively." By s. 9, the expenses payable in pursuance of the contract are to be raised and defrayed in the same manner as if they had been incurred in the jurisdiction of the authority contracting. By s. 10, the approval of the secretary of state to a contract is conclusive evidence that the contract has been made pursuant to the act; and a copy of the "London Gazette" purporting to contain an announcement "that a place has in pursuance of this act been constituted a place for holding the petty sessions [or special sessions, s. 3] of particular petty sessional [or special sessional, s. 3] divisions, or for transacting business to be performed by justices out of petty sessions [or special sessions, s. 3]," is to be evidence of the facts stated in such announcement. By sect. 30 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, it is Power to enacted that "Where the justices in general or quarter sessions assembled or the council of any borough have authority to hire or otherwise to provide a fit and proper place for holding petty sessions of the peace, such justices or council shall have power to provide a petty sessional court-house within the meaning of this act, by the purchase or other acquisition of land, and the erection of a proper building thereon; and all enactments relating to the provision of such place, and as to the raising of the money for defraying the expense of the provision of such place, shall apply accordingly." provide petty sessional court-house. at an inn. As to boroughs there is a further special provision in the Muni- In boroughs cipal Corporation Act, 5 & 6 Will. 4, c. 76, s. 100, for the appropria- not to be held tion of a convenient room where the petty sessions business of the borough may be transacted; and it is forbidden for such room to be at any public inn or tavern,—a prohibition which should have been enforced in all cases. O.S. VOL. I. F When expe act. Many cases of summary convictions and orders may be dient for more than one heard and determined by one justice only, either sitting pubmagistrate to licly at the place where the petty sessions are usually held, or at the office of the clerk, or even at his own private residence; and in preliminary inquiries for indictable offences one only is necessary. With respect to the cases in which, although he may act alone, it is more expedient that the justice should proceed in petty sessions with another or others, it is obviously impossible to suggest any general rules. He will probably think it best to adopt the latter course wherever the question to be raised is likely to affect considerable pecuniary interests, or arises on any new and complicated statute, or embraces any doubtful matter of law, more especially if the decision is final. Cases also frequently arise, to which, although not intricate in themselves, local circumstances of existing or apprehended prejudice attach a fictitious or imaginary importance, which renders them more fit to be discussed in the presence of several magistrates, in order that their administration of justice may not only be impartial, but beyond suspicion. (Dick. Quar. Sess. by Talfourd, 5th edit. p. 11.) And it is also material to notice that, in some cases under recent statutes, the judgment of one justice in a case of summary conviction may be the subject of appeal to the quarter sessions, where the concurrence of two justices is binding and conclusive. (Vide 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 110; 24 & 25 Vict. c. 97, s. 68.) But if more than the required number of justices necessary to hear and determine a case be present at the time appointed for the hearing and take part therein, the decision in the case must be of the majority of the justices, if all do not agree, and it is not competent for the required number of justices to make a conviction of their own will under such circumstances. Court of summary jurisdiction to sit at a petty sessional or occasional court-house, The Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879 (42 & 43 Vict. c. 49), by section 20 introduces several new and important provisions upon this subject constituting a new description of court, in which certain descriptions of offences punishable upon summary conviction alone may be disposed of, and restricting the power of punishment to be awarded by such court. The section is as follows: 20. (1) A case arising under this act, or under any other act, whether past or future, shall not be heard, tried, determined, or adjudged by a court of summary jurisdiction, except when sitting in open court. &c. (2) Open court means a petty sessional court-house or an occasional court-house. (3) A petty sessional court-house means a court-house or other place at which justices are accustomed to assemble for holding special or petty sessions, or which is for the time being appointed as a substitute for such court-house or place; and where the justices are accustomed to assemble for either special or petty sessions at more than one court-house or place in a petty sessional division, means any such court-house or place. (4) An occasional court-house means such police station or other place as is appointed (as hereinafter provided) to be used as an occasional court-house. (5) The justices of a petty sessional division of a county shall from time to time, at a sessions of which notice has been given to every justice of such division, appoint police stations or other places other than the petty sessional court-house, to be used as occasional court-houses, at which cases may be heard, tried, determined and adjudged, and they may from time to time at such a sessions as aforesaid vary any police station or place so appointed, and shall cause public notice to be given in such manner as they think expedient of every police station or place for the time being appointed to be used as an occasional court-house. (6) A court of summary jurisdiction consisting of two or more justices when sitting in a petty sessional court-house is in this act referred to as a petty sessional court. (7) Where a case arising under this act, or under any other act, whether past or future, is heard, tried, determined and adjudged by a court of summary jurisdiction sitting in an occasional court-house, the period of imprisonment imposed by the conviction or order of such court shall not exceed fourteen days, and the sum adjudged to be paid by the conviction or order of such court shall not exceed twenty shillings; and a justice of the peace when sitting alone in a petty sessional court-house shall not have power to impose any greater term of imprisonment or adjudge any larger sum to be paid than is above mentioned. (8) An indictable offence dealt with summarily in pursuance of this act shall not be heard, tried, determined or adjudged except by a petty sessional court sitting on some day appointed for hearing indictable offences, of which public notice has been given in such manner as to the justices of the petty sessional division seem expedient, or at some adjournment of such court. (9) Any case arising under this act other than such indictable offence as aforesaid, and any case arising under any future act which is triable by a court of summary jurisdiction, shall, unless it is otherwise prescribed, be heard, tried, determined and adjudged by a court of summary jurisdiction consisting of two or more justices. (10) The Lord Mayor of the City of London, and any alderman of the said city, and any metropolitan or borough police magistrate or other stipendiary magistrate, when sitting in a court-house or place at which he is authorised by law to do alone any act authorised to be done by more than one justice of the peace, shall, for the purposes of this act, be deemed to be a court of summary jurisdiction consisting of two or more justices, and also to be a court of summary jurisdiction sitting in a petty sessional court-house, and is in this act included in the expression "petty sessional court." (11) A court of summary jurisdiction, when not a petty sessional court, may, without prejudice to any other power of adjournment which the court may possess, adjourn the hearing of any case to the next practicable sitting of a petty sessional court in the same manner in all respects as a justice is authorised to adjourn the hearing of a 11 & 12 Vict. case under section sixteen of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1848. c. 43. It will be seen that the foregoing section enjoins the justices of every petty sessional division to provide themselves with two descriptions of court-houses for the transaction of the business committed to their jurisdiction, namely, "a petty sessional court-house" and "an occasional court-house." The petty sessional court-house does not in principle differ from the court-house in which justices have always been accustomed to hold their petty sessions. But "an occasional court-house" is something altogether the creature of the statute, and is probably intended to supersede the sittings of single magistrates at their own private dwellings, although there is certainly no express provision for that purpose. The 5th sub-section imposes upon the justices of the division the duty of appointing police-stations or other places other than the petty sessional court-house to be used as occasional court-houses, at which cases may be heard, tried, determined and adjudged. This duty of the justices to appoint occasional court-houses in addition to the ordinary petty sessions court would appear to be imperative, and in divisions where there is a police office as well as a court for holding petty sessions, no inconvenience will arise in so appointing the police office as the occasional court-house, but where, as in most rural petty sessional divisions, the police office is used as the court of petty sessions, the duty cast upon the justices of providing another place for holding a court for purposes other than those appertaining to a petty sessional court-house, will be productive of very serious inconvenience, and, we fear, some little detriment to the furtherance of public justice. |