SECTION 19. A Lieutenant-Governor shall be chosen at the same time, in the same manner, for the same term, and subject to the same provisions as the Governor; he shall possess the same qualifications of eligibility for office as the Governor; he shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote unless the Senate be equally divided.

The Lieutenant Governor while acting as President of the Senate, or as member of the Board of Pardons, whenever attending the sessions of said Board, shall receive for his services the same compensation per day as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

SECTION 20. In case the person elected Governor shall die or become disqualified before the commencement of his term of office, or shall refuse to take the same, or in case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Lieutenant-Governor; and in case of removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, the Secretary of State, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Attorney-General, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the President pro tempore of the Senate, or if there be none, or in case of his removal, death, resignation, or inability, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall act as Governor until the disability of the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor is removed, or a Governor shall be duly elected and qualified.

The foregoing provisions of this Section shall apply only to such persons as are eligible to the office of Governor under this Constitution at the time the powers and duties of the office of Governor shall devolve upon them respectively.

Whenever the powers and duties of the office of Governor shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, or Attorney-General, his office shall become vacant; and whenever the powers and duties of the office of Governor shall devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, his seat as a member of the General Assembly shall become vacant; and any such vacancy shall be filled as directed by this Constitution; provided, however, that such vacancy shall not be created in case either of the said persons shall be acting as Governor during a temporary disability of the Governor.

SECTION 21. The term of office of the Attorney-General and Insurance Commissioner shall be four years; and the terms of office of the State Treasurer and Auditor of Accounts shall be two years. These officers shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State at general elections, and be commissioned by the Governor.

SECTION 22. The terms of office of Prothonotaries, Clerks of the Peace, Registers of Wills, Recorders, Registers in Chancery and Clerks of the Orphans' Court shall be four years; and the terms of office of Sheriffs and Coroners shall be two years. These officers shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the respective counties at general elections, and be commissioned by the Governor.

No person shall be twice elected Sheriff in any term of four years. SECTION 23. Prothonotaries, Clerks of the Peace, Registers of Wills, Recorders, Registers in Chancery, Clerks of the Orphans' Court and Sheriffs shall keep their offices in the town or place in each county in which the Superior Court is usually held.

ARTICLE IV

JUDICIARY

SECTION 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, a Court of Chancery, an Orphans' Court, a Court of Oyer and Terminer, a Court of General Sessions, a Register's Court, Justices of the Peace and such other courts as the General Assembly, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House, shall from time to time by law establish.

SECTION 2. There shall be six State Judges who shall be learned in the law. One of them shall be Chancellor, one of them Chief Justice and the other four of them Associate Judges.

The Chancellor, Chief Justice and one of the Associate Judges may be appointed from and reside in any part of the State. The other three Associate Judges may be appointed from any part of the State. They shall be resident Associate Judges, and one of them shall reside in each county.

In case the commissions of two or more of the Associate Judges shall be of the same date, they shall, as soon as conveniently may be after their appointment, determine their seniority by lot, and certify the result to the Governor.

SECTION 3. The Chancellor, Chief Justice and Associate Judges shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the consent of a majority of all the members elected to the Senate, for the term of twelve years: Provided, however, that the Chancellor, Chief Justice and Associate Judges first to be appointed under this amended Constitution, shall be appointed by the Governor without the consent of the Senate, for the term of twelve years; and the persons so appointed shall enter upon the discharge of the duties of their respective offices upon taking the oath of office prescribed by this amended Constitution. If a vacancy shall occur, by expiration of term or otherwise, at a time when the Senate shall not be in session, the Governor shall within thirty days after the happening of any such vacancy convene the Senate, for the term of twelve years; and the persons so appointed vacancy, and the transaction of such other executive business as may come before it. Such vacancy shall be filled as aforesaid for the full term. The said appointment shall be such that no more than three of the said five law judges, in office at the same time, shall have been appointed from the same political party.

SECTION 4. The Chancellor, Chief Justice and Associate Judges shall respectively receive from the State for their services a compensation which shall be fixed by law and paid quarterly, and shall not be less than the annual sum of three thousand dollars, and they shall not receive any fees or perquisites in addition to their salaries for business done by them except as provided by law. They shall hold no other office of profit.

SECTION 5. The Chief Justice and the four Associate Judges shall compose the Superior Court, the Court of General Sessions and the Court of Oyer and Terminer, as hereinafter prescribed.

The said five judges shall designate those of their number who shall hold the said courts in the several counties. Whenever practicable the said courts shall consist of three of the said five judges, but no more than three of them shall sit together in any of the said

courts. In each of the said courts the Chief Justice when present shall preside, and in his absence the senior Associate Judge present shall preside.

Two shall constitute a quorum in the said courts respectively except in the court of Oyer and Terminer, where three shall constitute a

quorum.

One may open and adjourn court.

SECTION 6. Two sessions of the Superior Court, or Court of General Sessions, or one session of each of the said courts, or one session of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and of either of the other of the said courts may at the same time be held in the same county or in different counties, and the business in the several counties may be distributed and apportioned in such manner as shall be provided by the rules of the said courts respectively.

SECTION 7. The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction of all causes of a civil nature, real, personal and mixed, at common law and all other the jurisdiction and powers vested by the laws of this State in the Superior Court.

SECTION 8. The Court of General Sessions shall have all the jurisdiction and powers vested by the laws of this State in the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Jail Delivery.

SECTION 9. The Court of Oyer and Terminer shall have all the jurisdiction and powers vested by the laws of this State in the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

SECTION 10. The Chancellor shall hold the Court of Chancery. This court shall have all the jurisdiction and powers vested by the laws of this State in the Court of Chancery.

SECTION 11. The Orphans' Court in each County shall consist of the Chancellor and the resident Associate Judge of the county. The Chancellor when present shall preside. One of them shall constitute a quorum.

When their opinions are opposed, or when the decision is made by one of them, or when the decision is made by both of them in matters involving a right to real estate or the appraised value or other value thereof, and in all matters affecting guardians or guardians' accounts, there shall be an appeal to the Superior Court for the county, which shall have final Jurisdiction in every such case. Upon such appeal, if the Associate Judge sat in the cause below, he shall not sit in the Superior Court. In all other cases the decision of the Orphans' Court shall be final.

This court shall have all the jurisdiction and powers vested by the laws of this State in the Orphans' Court.

SECTION 12. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction as follows: (1) To issue writs of error to the Superior Court and to determine finally all matters in error in the judgments and proceedings of said Superior Court.

(2) To issue upon application of the accused, after conviction and sentence, writs of error to the Court of Oyer and Terminer and the Court of General Sessions in all cases in which the sentence shall be death, imprisonment exceeding one month, or fine exceeding one hundred dollars, and in such other cases as shall be provided by law; and to determine finally all matters in error in the judgments and proceedings of said Court of Oyer and Terminer and Court of General Sessions in such cases; provided, however, that there shall be no writ

of error to the Court of General Sessions in cases of prosecution under Section 8 of Article V of this Constitution.

(3) To receive appeals from the Court of General Sessions in cases of prosecution under Section 8 of Article V of this Constitution, and to determine finally all matters of appeal in such cases.

(4) To receive appeals from the Court of Chancery, and to determine finally all matters of appeals in the interlocutory or final decrees and to proceedings in chancery.

(5) To issue writs of prohibition, certiorari and mandamus to the Superior Court, the Court of Oyer and Terminer, the Court of General Sessions, the Court of Chancery and the Orphans' Court, or any of the judges of the said courts, and all orders, rules and processes proper to give effect to the same. The General Assembly shall have power to provide by law of what judges of the Supreme Court shall consist for the purpose of this paragraph and in what manner, and by what judges of the Supreme Court the jurisdiction and power hereby conferred may be exercised in vacation.

SECTION 13. The Supreme Court upon a writ of error to the Superior Court, Court of Oyer and Terminer, or Court of General Sessions, or upon appeal from the Court of General Sessions, shall consist of the Chancellor and such of the other five judges as did not sit in the cause below. The Chancellor when present shall preside, and in his absence the Chief Justice when present shall preside, and in his absence the senior Associate Judge present shall preside. Any three of them shall constitute a quorum, and one of them may open and adjourn

court.

SECTION 14. The Supreme Court upon an appeal from the Court of Chancery shall consist of the Chief Justice and the four Associate Judges.

The Chief Justice when present shall preside, and in his absence the senior Associate Judge present shall preside. Any three of them shall constitute a quorum, and one of them may open and adjourn court.

SECTION 15. Whenever the Superior Court, Court of Oyer and Terminer or Court of General Sessions shall consider that a question of law ought to be heard by the Court in Banc, they shall have power, upon application of either party, to direct it to be so heard; and in that case the Court in Banc shall consist of the Chief Justice and the four Associate Judges.

The Chief Justice when present shall preside, and in his absence the senior Associate Judge present shall preside. Any four of them shall constitute a quorum, and one of them may open and adjourn

court.

The Superior Court, Court of Oyer and Terminer or Court of General Sessions in exercising this power, may direct a cause to be proceeded into verdict or judgment in that court, or to be otherwise proceeded in, as shall be best for expediting justice.

SECTION 16. In matters of chancery jurisdiction in which the Chancellor is interested or otherwise disqualified, the Chief Justice shall have jurisdiction, and there shall be an appeal to the Supreme Court, which shall in this case consist of the four Associate Judges, the senior Associate Judge present presiding. Any three of them shall constitute a quorum, and one of them may open and adjourn

court.

SECTION 17. The Chief Justice, or, in case of his absence from the

State or disability, the senior Associate Judge, shall have power, during the absence of the Chancellor from the State or his temporary disability, to grant restraining orders and preliminary injunctions, pursuant to the rules of the Court of Chancery; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to confer general jurisdiction over the case.

SECTION 18. The Governor shall have power to commission a judge ad litem for the purpose of constituting a quorum in the Superior Court, Court of Oyer and Terminer, Court of General Sessions or Supreme Court, where by reason of legal exception to the Chancellor or any judge or for other cause a quorum could not otherwise be had. The commission in such case shall confine the office to the cause, and it shall expire on the determination of the cause. The judge so appointed shall receive a resonable compensation to be fixed by the General Assembly. A member of Congress, or any person holding or exercising an office under the United States, shall not be disqualified from being appointed a judge ad litem.

SECTION 19. The jurisdiction of each of the aforesaid courts shall be co-extensive with the State. Process may be issued out of each court, in either county, into every county. No costs shall be awarded against any party to a cause by reason of the fact that suit is brought in a county other than that in which the defendant or defendants may reside at the time of bringing suit.

SECTION 20. The General Assembly, notwithstanding anything contained in this Article, shall have power to repeal or alter any act of the General Assembly, giving jurisdiction to the Court of Oyer and Terminer, the Superior Court, the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and Jail Delivery, the Orphans' Court or the Court of Chancery, in any matter, or giving any power to either of the said courts. The General Assembly shall also have power to confer upon the Courts of Oyer and Terminer, the Superior Court, the Court of General Sessions, the Orphans' Court and the Court of Chancery jurisdiction and powers in addition to those hereinbefore mentioned. Until the General Assembly shall otherwise direct, there shall be an appeal to the Supreme Court in all cases in which there is an appeal, according to any act of the General Assembly, to the Court of Errors and Appeals.

SECTION 21. Until the General Assembly shall otherwise provide, the Chancellor shall exercise all the powers which any law of this State vests in the Chancellor, besides the general powers of the Court of Chancery, and the Chief Justice and Associate Judges shall each singly exercise all the powers which any law of this State vests in the judges singly of the Superior Court.

SECTION 22. Judges shall not charge juries with respect to matters of fact, but may state the questions of fact in issue and declare the law.

SECTION 23. In civil causes where matters of fact are at issue, if the parties agree, such matters of fact shall be tried by the court, and judgment rendered upon their decision thereon as upon a verdict. by a jury.

SECTION 24. In civil causes, when pending, the Superior Court shall have the power, before judgment, of directing, upon such terms as it shall deem reasonable, amendments, impleadings and legal proceedings, so that by error in any of them, the determination of causes,