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heritance or freehold, for he never is attainted as a felon. The forfeiture of goods and chattels accrues in high treason, misprision of treason, felonies of all sorts, self-murder, simple larceny, and striking, &c., in Westminster Hall. Lands, therefore, are forfeited upon attainder, and not before; but goods and chattels are forfeited upon conviction. In outlawry for treason or felony, land is forfeited only by the judgment, but goods and chattels by the exigent. The forfeiture of goods and chattels only relates to the time of conviction, except in the case of felo de se, when it shall relate to the act done which was the cause of the death.

Corruption of blood.]—Corruption of blood is another unavoidable consequence of attainder for treason or murder, but not for any other offence (54) Geo. 3, c. 145); so that such an attainted person cannot inherit lands or hereditaments from his ancestor, and formerly could not transmit them to any heir; for the person attainted obstructed all descents.

SECT. IX.-OF REVERSAL OF JUDGMENT.

Without writ of error.]-A judgment may be reversed for matters not apparent on the face of it, by alleging a diminution of the record.

Writ of error.]-The judgment may also be reversed by writ of error to the Queen's Bench, and from thence to the House of Lords. Writs of error in misdemeanors are allowed only on sufficient probable ground shown to the Attorney General. By 8 & 9 Vic. c. 68 (amended by 9 & 10 Vic. c. 24), where judgment shall have been given for a mis

ACT OF PARLIAMENT.

443

demeanor, and the defendant shall have obtained a writ of error to reverse it, execution thereon shall be stayed until such writ of error shall be finally determined; subject, however, to a proviso that no execution shall be stayed until the defendant shall be bound by recognisance, with two sufficient sureties, to prosecute the writ of error with effect; and, in case the judgment be affirmed, forthwith to render the defendant to prison according to the judgment. In capital cases, writs of error are only allowed ex gratiâ.

Act of parliament.]—The most effectual way of reversing an attainder is by act of parliament, which, however, is a very rare case.

When judgment or conviction is reversed, the proceedings are all set aside, and the party is restored in his credit, capacity, blood, and estates. He is, however, liable to another prosecution for the same offence; for the first being erroneous, he never was in jeopardy thereby.

Parties were obliged to derive a title through them to a remote ancestor. But now, by s. 10 of 3 & 4 Will. 4, after the death of a person attainted, his descendants may trace their descent through such attainted person, provided he was dead before such descent took place.

SECT. X.-OF REPRIEVE AND PARDON.

[See 4 Black. Com. chap. 31; 4 Steph. Com. chap. 25.]

The only other remaining ways of avoiding the execution of the judgment are by a reprieve or a pardon; the former of which is temporary only, the latter permanent.

Pardon.]-We have already seen that a pardon may be pleaded on arraignment, or in arrest of judgment; and we have now to add, that it may be pleaded in bar of execution. We may here appropriately notice some matters relating to pardons:I. The sovereign may pardon all offences, except, 1, the committing any man to prison out of the realm, which is made a præmunire; 2, where private justice is principally concerned; though by the Larceny Act, 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, s. 69, the sovereign may extend his mercy to any person imprisoned by virtue of that act, though for non-payment of money to an individual. He cannot pardon a nuisance so as to prevent an abatement of it, nor an offence against a popular or penal statute after information brought. And a pardon is no bar to an impeachment. II. The pardon must be under the great seal, or warrant under the sign manual. In general, the offence intended to be pardoned should be particularly mentioned (b). III. A pardon by act of parliament is more beneficial than by the sovereign's charter; for the court must take ex officio notice of it without pleading, and no laches will deprive the offender of its benefit. IV. The effect of the sovereign's pardon is to acquit the party of all corporal penalties and forfeitures annexed to the offence, and to give him new credit and capacity. If the pardon be not till after attainder, nothing but an act of parliament can restore the party's corruption of blood. A pardon may be conditional upon the performance of any terms the sovereign may annex: thus, felons are constantly pardoned on condition of being confined to hard labour for a a given time, or of transportation to some free country for life or for a term of years, or on condition of not returning to England, or other the country where the offence was committed. The

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performance of the condition has, by 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c 28, s. 13, and other statutes, the effect of a pardon under the great seal. And by 9 Geo. 4, c. 32, s. 3, enduring the punishment for a felony not capital, has the same effect as a pardon under the great seal as to the particular offence, except so as not to diminish the punishment for a subsequent conviction for any other felony.

Reprieve.]-A reprieve is the withdrawing of a sentence for an interval of time, whereby the execution is suspended. The causes for reprieve are various; as, where the judges are not satisfied with the verdict, or the evidence is suspicious, or the indictment insufficient; or where a woman between judgment and execution proves to be with child; or if an offender become non compos.

SECT. XI.-EXECUTION.

[See 4 Black. Com. chap. 32; 4 Steph. Com. chap. 26.]

In all cases, as well capital as otherwise, execution must be performed by the legal officer, the sheriff, or his deputy. The usage is, in the country, for the judge to sign the calendar, or list of the prisoners' names, marking opposite to each the punishment he is to receive. Upon the receipt of this warrant, for it is the only one the sheriff has, he is to do execution in a convenient time. The sheriff cannot alter the manner of execution, nor can the king change the punishment of the law, though he may (it is thought) mitigate it.

CHAP. L.

COURTS OF JUSTICE.

[See 3 Black. Com. chaps. 3-6; 4 Id. chap. 19; 3 Steph. Com. Book V. chaps. 3-6; 4 Id. chap. 14.]

A court is a place where justice is judicially administered. The King being the supreme magistrate of the kingdom, and intrusted with the whole executive power of the law, no court whatever can have any jurisdiction, unless it some way or other derive it from the crown. The only methods by which any court of judicature can exist, are either by act of parliament, by letters patent, or by prescription; in the two former of which the King's consent is expressly given, in the latter it is implied. In contemplation of law, the King is always present in his courts; but as that is in fact impossible, he is there represented by his judges, whose power is only an emanation of the royal prerogative. Of the variety of courts which the law hath appointed for the administration of justice, some are constituted to inquire only, others to hear and determine; some to determine in the first instance, others upon appeal, and by way of review; but there is one distinction runs throughout them all, viz. that some of them are courts of record, others not of record. They are also divided into superior and inferior courts; and are further distinguished, according to the kind

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