Jurisdiction.

And whenever in any information or the proceedings thereon, Summary it shall be necessary to mention, for any purpose whatsoever, any partners, joint tenants, parceners, or tenants in common, it shall be sufficient to describe them in manner aforesaid:

And whenever in any such information or the proceedings Ownership of thereon, it shall be necessary to describe the ownership of public buildany ings or work or building, made, maintained, or repaired at the expense materials. of any Province, or of any Superintendent on behalf of any Province;

or of any county, district, city, or place; or of any materials. for the making, altering, or repairing of the same;

they may therein be described as the property of the inhabitants of such Province, (1) county, district, city, or place respectively; and property for the use of any particular district or place may be described as the property of the inhabitants of such district or place.

Aiders and Abettors.-Prosecution and Punishment.

9. Every person who shall aid, assist, counsel, or procure the Jervis' Act, commission of any offence punishable on summary conviction, s. 5. shall be liable to be proceeded against, and convicted for the same, either together with the principal offender or before or after his conviction, and shall be liable, on conviction, to the same forfeiture and punishment as such principal offender shall be by law liable to; and may be proceeded against and convicted,

either at the place where such principal offender may be convicted, or in the place in which such offence of aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring may have been committed.

10. It shall be lawful for one Justice of the Peace (2) to receive One Justice such information, and

in preliminary proceedings.

to issue his summons or warrant to compel the appear- Summons.

ance of the party charged, or of any witness; and

to do all other necessary acts preliminary to the hearing, even in cases where such information must be heard and

determined by two or more Justices:

(1) This seems to be a cumulative provision as regards the property of Provinces, which, by "The Provincial Lawsuits Act, 1858," s. 1, is, "for all purposes of proceedings in any Court, as well criminal as civil," to "be deemed and taken to be the property of the Superintendent."

(*) The action of any one Justice before hearing seems to be treated rather as ministerial than judicial.

Sec. 29.

Summary Jurisdiction.

Summons

Form No. 16.
Jervis' Act,
s. 1.

Apprehension
in first
instance.
Sec. 2.

and it shall not be necessary that the Justice who so acts shall be the Justice or one of the Justices by whom the case shall be heard and determined, or that such act shall be done within the place where such Justice has jurisdiction.

11. Any Justice receiving such information() may issue his summons (2) directed to the party charged, stating shortly the matter of such information, and requiring him to appear at a certain time and place,) before such Justices as shall then be there,(3)

to answer to the said information, and to be further dealt with according to law.

12. If the matter of the information shall be substantiated by the oath (+) of the informant, or by some witness on his behalf, it shall be lawful for the Justice receiving such information, if he shall see good cause so to do,

to issue, in the first instance, without any summons, his Form No. 17. warrant (4) for apprehending the party charged and bringing him before some Justice of the Peace,

Summons to
witness.
Sec. 7.

Form No. 20.

Neglect.

to answer to the said information, and to be further dealt with according to law.

13. If it shall be made to appear to any Justice of the Peace that any person is likely to give any material evidence on behalf of the informant or defendant, and is not likely to voluntarily appear as a witness at the time and place appointed for the hearing of such information,

such Justice shall issue his summons (6) to such person, requiring him to appear at the time and place mentioned in such summons, before such Justices as shall then be there,

to testify what he shall know concerning the matter of such information;

and if any person so summoned shall neglect or refuse to (1) It would appear that the summons cannot be issued by another Justice than the one who received the information.

(2) In cases where the hearing must be by two Justices, occurring within a Petty Sessions District (under the Act of 1865), and also in other cases accord. ing to the discretion of the Justice, the time and place would generally be those appointed for the first practicable sitting of a Court of Petty Sessions for the district.

(3) This section omits the words "the same Justice or Justices," as in Jervis' Act, s. 1.

() This includes "affirmation and declaration" in case of persons allowed by law to affirm and declare. (Sec. 2, and Interpretation Act, 1868, s. 12, d "The Law Amendment Act, 1868.")

Summary Jurisdiction.

appear at the time and place appointed by the said summons, and no just excuse shall be offered for such neglect or refusal, then, after proof upon oath of such summons having been duly Jervis' Act, served upon such person, and that a reasonable sum was paid s. 7.

or tendered to him for his costs and expenses in that behalf,

it shall be lawful for any one of the Justices before whom Warrant. such person should have appeared

to issue his warrant (7) for bringing such person, at a time Form No. 21. and place therein mentioned, before them or such Justices as

shall then be there, to testify as aforesaid:

or if any such Justice shall be satisfied by evidence upon Warrant to oath, that any person likely to give material evidence as aforesaid witness in first will not attend to give evidence without being compelled to do

so, and

if the matter of the information has been substantiated upon oath,

then, instead of issuing such summons, it shall be lawful for him to issue his warrant (8) in the first instance.

Hearing.

instance.

Form No. 23.

14. Every such information as aforesaid shall be heard, tried, Number of determined, and adjudged

by one, or two, or more Justices of the Peace, as shall be directed by the Act or Ordinance upon which such information shall be framed, or by any other Act or Ordinance containing provision in that behalf;

and in default of any such direction, such information may be heard, tried, determined, and adjudged by one Justice of the

Peace:(1)

Justices.
Sec. 12.

the time.

Provided that in all cases where such information is required Two or more to be heard and determined by two or more Justices, such Jus- present all tices must be present and acting together during the whole of the hearing and determination of the case.

(1) The 16th section of "The Interpretation Act, 1868," seems to be at variance with this provision. It enacts that "All fines, penalties, and forfeitures, or sums of money which, under or by virtue of any Act now or hereafter to be in force, are or shall be authorized or directed to be imposed on any person, shall and may, where no other form or mode of procedure is or shall be prescribed by such Act for the recovery of the same, be recovered in a summary way before any two Justices of the Peace in the manner provided by The Justice of the Peace Act, 1866,' so far as the same relates to summary convictions, or by any Act repealing or amending the same, or for like purposes."

Summary Jurisdiction.

Open Court. (Jervis' Act, s. 12.) Appearance. Ibid.

Withdrawal.

No bar.

Costs to defendant.

Recovery.

Adjournment if sufficient Justices not present.

15. The room(1) in which the Justices shall sit to hear and try any such information shall be deemed an open or public Court, (2) to which the public generally may have access, as far as the same can conveniently contain them.

16. Both the informant and the party against whom any such information is laid (hereinafter called the defendant), shall be at liberty to appear personally, or by a barrister or solicitor of the Supreme Court. (3)

17. Every such information may be withdrawn by the informant, either before the time fixed for the hearing thereof— by permission of the Justice who shall have received such information; or at the time and place of hearing, and before the same shall have been adjudicated upon-by permission of the Justices who shall then be there;

and an information so laid and afterwards withdrawn shall not operate as a bar to any other proceedings, civil or criminal, in the same matter:

Provided that notwithstanding such withdrawal, such Justice or Justices shall have power to award to the defendant (*) such costs as to such Justice or Justices shall seem reasonable;

and the amount so awarded may be recovered in the same manner as costs awarded to a defendant upon dismissal of a case.

18. If, at the time and place appointed by the summons for hearing any such information, the requisite number of Justices for hearing the same be not present, any Justice present may adjourn the hearing to a time and place to be then appointed:(5)

(1) The use of the word "room" here would probably be insufficient to prevent Justices from hearing a case in the open air, if circumstances rendered such a course convenient or necessary.

(2) As a public Court of Justice, the proceedings which take place in it may be reported and published, even if they contain false and libellous statements reflecting on individuals. Doubts which have been expressed respecting the privilege of reports of ex parte proceedings of Courts of Justice (and which do not seem to be considered of very great weight in recent times), do not attach to the reports of what takes place at the hearing of a charge of a summarily punishable offence.

(3) In London, attorneys' clerks are allowed to appear before the Magistrates.

(*) Quare, Whether it might not be desirable to give the Justices power to give the informant his costs in certain cases; for instance, where the injury was very trifling and public justice required no punishment. In such case it might be reasonable to withdraw the charge if the defendant chose to pay the informant's costs. If the withdrawal in such case was merely by consent of parties, there would be no given remedy for costs.

(5) If no Justice should be present at the time and place, then a fresh

But if the required number of Justices be present, the course Summary of proceedings shall be regulated as follows:

Jurisdiction.

(1.) If the defendant shall not appear when called, and it Defendant
shall be proved that such summons was duly served,
not present.
(Jervis' Act,
upon him a reasonable time before the time thereby s. 13.)
appointed for his appearance,

it shall be lawful for the Justices to proceed to Hearing
hear such information ex parte, and to adjudicate ex parte.
thereon as fully and effectually as if the defendant
had personally appeared before them;

or if the matter of such information be substantiated Or warrant. upon oath, such Justices may issue their warrant (4) Form No. 17. to apprehend the defendant so failing to appear, and

adjourn the hearing of the information until he shall

be apprehended;

and upon the apprehension of such defendant he Apprehension. shall be brought before a Justice of the Peace, who

shall thereupon, by warrant, commit him to the gaol or Commitment.
other place of security; or, if he think fit, verbally,
to the custody of the person apprehending him, or to
other safe custody, and shall order him to be brought
up at a certain time and place before such Justices
as shall then be there, of which order the informant
shall have due notice :(1) or

(2.) If the defendant be present, and the informant having Defendant
had such notice as aforesaid,() shall not appear;
the Justices shall dismiss such information, unless,
for some reason, they shall think proper to adjourn

present, informant absent,", dismissal.

summons would have to be obtained; perhaps it might be safer to issue a fresh information, and a defendant who had been apprehended and brought up might be entitled to his discharge—at all events, on habeas corpus.

In case of a hearing at a Court of Petty Sessions, if the Chairman should not appear, and there should be only two Justices present,-in which case they would seem, from the provisions of "The Petty Sessions Act, 1866," to have no power to hear any case, it may be doubtful whether they could adjourn the case to be heard either at a future Petty Sessions Court, or by the proper number of Justices out of such Court.

(1) It is not provided by whom notice is to be given to the informant in such case; but probably the officer or person to whose custody the defendant is consigned would be the proper person to give such notice.

(*) This must mean in cases where it is necessary to give such notice, and not in cases where the defendant appears pursuant to the first summons or warrant.