ties, when he is admitted to bail, will be found post; and now, by 5 & 6 W. IV. c. 33, s. 3, any two justices, of whom one or other shall have signed the warrant of commitment, may admit any person charged with felony, or against whom any warrant of commitment for that offence is signed, to bail, in the manner and according to the provisions directed by 7 Geo. IV. c. 64, in such sum of money, and with such surety or sureties, as they shall think fit; and notwithstanding such person has confessed the matter laid to his charge, or notwithstanding such justices should not think such charge groundless, or should think that the circumstances are such as to raise a presumption of guilt. Thus in cases where the proofs in support of the charge have raised a presumption of the guilt of the accused which has been afterwards rendered less cogent, though not absolutely groundless, by evidence

adduced on his behalf, as well as in the instance of his confessing the crime, the two justices may give a party accused of felony his liberty on bail, unless that step appears to them likely to place in hazard his appearance at the proper time and place.

Copies of Depositions allowed to Prisoners.]-All prisoners held to bail, or committed to prison for any offence against the law, are now entitled to require and have on demand (from the person who shall have the lawful custody thereof, and who is hereby required to deliver the same) copies of the examinations of the witnesses respectively upon whose depositions they have been so held to bail or committed to prison, on payment of a reasonable sum for the same, not exceeding three halfpence per folio of ninety words (ƒ).

Power to summon Witnesses.]-By 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 70, petty (or special) sessions may summon witnesses to give evidence under the poor law amendment acts, 4 & 5 W. IV. c. 76, and 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, and may commit to gaol for non-attendance.

When expedient, though not necessary, for more than one Magistrate to act.]-In every case in which a magistrate is requested to act in the execution of some power alleged to be given by statute, and with which he has not, by practice, become familiar, he will, of course, feel it incumbent on him to consult the provision itself, in order to ascertain what precise authority it confers, and whether he should act alone, or in petty session with some other magistrate. Any bare enumeration, therefore, of cases in which he may be called on to act would, in this place, be superfluous.

With respect to the cases in which, although a magistrate may act alone, it is more expedient that he should proceed in petty session 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

(ƒ) 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 114; but they are not entitled to such copies if committed for re-examination, or before they have been held to bail or committed

for trial. See Fletcher (ex parte) 13 L. J. (M. C.) 67; 1 Dowl. and Lowndes, 896 (before full court of Q. B.)

attach an imaginary importance, which render them more fit to be discussed in the presence of several magistrates, in order that the administration of justice may not only be impartial, but beyond suspicion.

Right of Parties to be assisted by Advocates at Petty Sessions, and of the Public to attend.]-The power of magistrates, when sitting in petty session, to exclude the public, and to prohibit the publication of the proceedings, and the right of parties appearing before them to be assisted by attorneys as their advocates, have been much discussed. The governing distinction on the first of these questions seems now to be, whether the proceeding is preliminary or final? In cases of preliminary inquiry, as where magistrates sit to determine whether they shall bail or commit a party accused of felony or misdemeanor, it is settled that no person, as one of the public, can claim, as of right, to be present (g). The new act, 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 114, allowing counsel to address the jury for prisoners at their trials, does not alter the law in this respect. It is obvious that there may be occasions in which the purposes of justice require that an investigation of this kind should be private; when these occur, magistrates are justified in excluding the public, and in requiring that the parties who are present shall abstain from publishing any account of the proceedings. And a publication in defiance of such a warning, calculated to defeat the object of the inquiry, or to prejudice the party accused, is a misdemeanor, for which an indictment may be preferred, or a criminal information granted (h). But considering the benefits which frequently arise from the communication of facts as they transpire, and the jealousy with which private inquiries are naturally regarded, the most experienced magistrates refrain from exerting this discretionary power of exclusion, except when the necessity is clear.

When, on the other hand, magistrates sit to adjudicate, as upon a

(g) Cox v. Coleridge, 1 B. & C. 37, S.C.; 2 Dowl. & Ry. 86. See also R. v. Borron, 3 B. & Ald. 432; Collier v. Hicks, 2 B. & Adol. 663.

(h) In R. v. Clement, 4 B. & Ald. 218, the session of gaol delivery for Middlesex, at the Old Bailey, ordered that the proceedings of several separate trials for high treason should not be published till the whole of them were concluded. The prisoners had severed in their challenges, being indicted together; two trials took place, and pend

ing the proceedings against the rest, the defendant published a report of those trials. The Court of Session fined him 5001. for his contempt, which was held right on argument in the Court of King's Bench, and payment was afterwards enforced, after resistance, in the Court of Exchequer. 11 Price, 68: and see Deacon v. Deacon, 2 Russell's R., 607, Eldon Ch., and a case at the Rolls, Jan. 1839, as to market gardeners removing trees.

proceeding for a penalty, the place in which they sit is an open court of justice, to which all persons have a right of access, and from which no one may be lawfully removed, so long as he conducts himself with propriety (i). When, therefore, a magistrate, sitting in a petty session with others, to hear an information under 5 Ann. c. 14, for keeping and using a gun to destroy game, caused a person to be removed who claimed a right to be present; he was holden liable to an action of trespass at his suit: Mr. Justice Bayley observing, "The magistrate was proceeding upon a summary conviction, and therefore exercising a judicial authority. He was as it were, a court of justice for the purpose; and we are all of opinion that it is one of the essential qualities of a court of justice that its proceedings should be public, and that all parties who may be desirous of hearing what is going on,-provided they do not interrupt the proceedings, and provided there is no specific reason why they should be removed,-have a right to be present for that purpose."

And now, by the prisoner's counsel act (k), in all cases of summary conviction, persons accused shall be admitted to make their full answer and defence, and to have all witnesses examined and cross-examined by counsel or attorney.

The magistrates sitting in petty sessions have the right incident to every court of justice, of regulating their own proceedings, and in cases not affected by the statute just mentioned, may decide who shall appear before them as advocates (1), or whether the parties only shall be heard. In all cases of difficulty, however, they will exercise a sound discretion in hearing persons of professional education and skill, as they will probably facilitate the inquiry by conducting it according to the rules of evidence, and by their suggestions assist the magistrates in arriving at the right conclusion. This consideration suggested the last-mentioned provision for limiting the exercise of advocacy to professional men.

Overseers of Poor appointed at Petty Sessions.]-The duty of magistrates in petty sessions as to appointing overseers of the poor, is fixed by 43 Eliz. c. 2, s. 1, and 54 Geo. III. c. 91, s. 1;-by which acts the churchwardens of every parish, (m) and four, three, or two

(1) Daubney v. Cooper, 10 B. & C.

237.

(*) 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 114, 2, superseding Collier v. Hicks, 2 B. & Adol. 663, which had been decided to the contrary.

(1) Collier v. Hicks, 2 B. & Adol. 663.

(m) As to irregular appointments of separate overseers in townships or villages, see 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, s. 22, 23.

substantial householders there, to be nominated yearly on 25th March, or within fourteen days next after (n), under the hand and seal of two or more justices in the same county, are to be called "Overseers of the Poor" of the same parish: nor are the magistrates restricted to appoint only householders resident in the parish or township; for, by 59 Geo. III. c. 12, s. 6, justices in the respective special (o) sessions for appointment of overseers of the poor, may, on the nomination and at the request of the inhabitants of a parish, assembled in vestry, appoint to that office, with his consent, any person assessed to the relief of the poor thereof, and being a householder resident within two miles from the church or chapel of the parish, or where there shall be none who shall be resident within one mile from the boundary of the parish, though he be not a householder thereof; and it is sufficient in his appointment to describe him by his name and residence (p).

Petty Sessions; powers to transfer Public-house licences.]-(See 6 & 7 Vict. c. 44, post.)

Hearing Cases at Petty Sessions.]-A petty sessions which enters on the hearing of a case must hear it through. Thus, where a marriage set up on one side against a man summoned under the Vagrant Act, for not supporting his children, was disputed on the other, and the two justices, without hearing the evidence in support of the marriage, dismissed the summons, alleging that the question respecting it should be tried in the Ecclesiastical Court, a mandamus was granted, requiring them to hear the complaint (q).

A clerk to justices in petty sessions holds his office at their pleasure, and may be summarily dismissed by one of them without cause assigned (r).

SECTION III.

OF SPECIAL SESSIONS IN DIVISIONS OF COUNTIES, &c. :- -WHEN

AND IN WHAT MANNER ASSEmbled.

Special Session.]-A special session is a sitting of two or more

(n) These words are, directory only; so that an appointment by two justices at a meeting adjourned to a later day than above prescribed, is valid. Reg.v.Sneyd, 9 D. P. C. 1001; see R. v. Sparrow, Strange, 1123.

See p. 15.

Mandamus to justices to appoint overseers, R. v. Watts Horton, 1 T. R. 374; R. v. Salop (Justices), 3 B. &

Adol. 910; the case of Oldbury township, in Hales Owen; a parish at that time and till 7 & 8 Vict. c. 61, situate partly in Shropshire, and partly in Worcestershire.

(q) R. v. Justices of Cumberland, 4 Ad. & El. 695.

(r) Ex parte Sandys, 4 B. & Adol.

863.