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No.XXXIII. such order shall have been determined, and such amendments made 10 Geo. IV. therein as shall have appeared necessary or proper, the justices at such quarter sessions shall cause to be inserted therein some day not carlier c. 46. than one month after such sessions from which the same shall take effect, and shall cause the same order to be enrolled, and the same shall remain an order of sessions, controlling any order or orders of sessions heretofore made for the separate constitution of any new divisions, or the partial alteration of any accustomed divisions, under the former provisions of this Act, and not subject itself to revocation or alteration of any kind for the space of ten years thence next ensuing; and during such ten years no such statement shall be received or proceedings had thereon as above mentioned, but during all that time, and until further order of sessions after the expiration of that time, the several divisions, as limited modelled or constituted in and by such order, shall be and be taken to be, for all the purposes in this Act mentioned, the lawful divisions of such county riding or division, having such separate commission of the peace, for the meetings of justices in special sessions, under any statute now in force, or hereafter to be made, and containing no special provision to the contrary; and all bailiffs, constables, tithingmen, surveyors, overseers of the poor, and other officers, publicans, keepers of taverns, coffee houses, and victualling houses, and other persons, shall and they are hereby required thenceforward, during the time last above limited, to give their attendance to and upon the justices of the peace at any time assembled in such special sessions, within the same divisions respectively, as fully and effectually as by law they have been bound to do within any division reputed and taken before the passing of this Act to be a lawful and accustomed division for the meetings of justices for any of the purposes aforesaid.

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XI. And be it further enacted, That immediately after the enrolment of such order, the clerk of the peace shall and he is hereby required to cause to be published a copy of the same in three successive numbers of one or more such weekly newspapers as aforesaid, and shall also transmit one copy thereof to each justice of the peace dwelling within or usually acting within and for such county riding or division, having such separate commission of the peace.

XII. And be it further enacted, That no order to be made, nor any proceeding to be had or taken, in pursuance of this Act, shall be quashed or vacated for want of form, or removed by certiorari, or any other writ or process whatever, into any of his Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster; any law or statute to the contrary nothwithstanding.

XIII. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be construed or taken to extend to the county of Middlesex in England, or to Scotland or Ireland.

[No. XXXIII.] 10 George IV. c. 46.-An Act for more effectually executing an Act of the last Session of Parliament, for the better Regulation of Divisions in the several Counties of England and Wales.-[19 June 1829.]

WE HEREAS by an Act passed in the last session of Parliament, intituled An Act for the better Regulation of Divisions in the several Counties of England and Wales, the court of quarter sessions is empowered in certain cases to make orders for altering existing divisions, and for constituting new divisions for holding petty sessions, whereby in many cases parts of a hundred, wapentake, ward, or other district in the nature of a hundred, will be severed, for the purposes aforesaid, from the main body thereof, and such hundred or other like district will thereafter be situate in two or more divisions: And whereas by divers Acts it is required of high constables to give notice to, or to serve precepts on, petty constables, churchwardens, overseers of the poor, surveyors of the highways,

c. 55.

Court of Quar ter Session, on making vision of any

Order for Di.

and others, similar duties may be cast upon high constables by future No.XXXIV. Acts, and the labour of executing such duties will be increased by the 10 Geo. IV. severance of the hundred or other like district under the provisions of the said recited Act, and difficulties may arise in the due execution of process in such cases: For remedy thereof, be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That whensoever the court of quarter sessions shall, under the said provisions, make an order for changing any parish, tithing, township, or place from one division to another, or an order for constituting any new division, and it shall appear to the court that any inconvenience will arise from such change if the high constable or high constables shall continue liable to perform the duties aforesaid in respect to the whole of his or their hundred or other like district, the same court of quarter sessions shall make an order for remedying such inconvenience, either by directing that where there are more than one high constable such duties shall be divided between them, in such manner as to the court shall seem fit, or, if circumstances shall so require, that the high constable or high constables shall be entirely exempted from the performance of a certain portion of those duties, and that the same portion shall be performed by the high constable of any other hundred, or by some petty constable tithingman or other peace officer, or by some other person or persons to be specified in the order; and every such order shall be binding on all justices officers and persons whomsoever.

II. Provided always, That neither this Act, nor any order to be made by virtue thereof, shall prejudice or affect the rights of any lord of any hundred manor or other franchise, nor any person claiming under him, otherwise than as to the service of process in the cases herein-before mentioned or referred to.

[No. XXXIV.] 10 George IV. c. 55.-An Act for the more effectual Recovery of Small Debts, and for diminishing the Expences of Litigation in Causes of small Amount, in the Sheriff Courts in Scotland.-[19th June 1829.]

WHEREAS an Act was made in the sixth year of the reign of his present

at the same District, may Time make Order respecting the Duties of the High Constables.

Act not to

affect the

Rights of

Lords of
Manors.

Majesty, intituled An Act for the more easy Recovery of Small Debts in 6 G. 4. c. 24. the Sheriff Courts in Scotland, the provisions of which have been found beneficial; but experience has pointed out certain alterations by which its benefits will be extended and rendered more effectual, and it is expedient that such alterations and the former provisions should be consolidated in one Act: May it therefore please your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the said recited Act shall be and the same is hereby repealed from and after the first day of September next, save and except as to such causes as shall have been commenced under the authority of the said recited Act before the said first day of September next, and shall be then depending; all which causes shall be carried to a conclusion, according to the rules prescribed by the said Act, notwithstanding this Act.

Recited Act

repealed after
1st September
next, except
as to Causes
menced.

then com

II. And be it enacted, That from and after the first day of September Sheriffs may next, it shall be lawful for any sheriff in Scotland, within his county to hear and dehear try and determine in a summary way, as more particularly herein- termine after mentioned, all civil causes, and all prosecutions for statutory penal- Causes for ties, that may be competently brought before him, wherein the debt Sums under demand or penalty concluded for shall not exceed the value of one hun- 1007. Scots dred pounds Scots, exclusive of expences and fees of extract: Provided in a summary Way. always, that the pursuer or prosecutor shall in all cases be held to have

No.XXXIV. passed from and abandoned any remaining portion of any debt demand or 10 Geo. IV. penalty beyond the sum actually concluded for in any such cause or prosecution.

c. 55.

Providing Forms of Proceedings.

Arrestment of Goods of Defender.

III. And be it enacted, That all such causes and prosecutions, which the pursuers or prosecutors thereof shall choose to have heard and determined according to the summary mode hereby provided, shall proceed, except as herein-after provided in regard to forthcomings, upon summons or complaint, agreeably to the form in schedule (A.) subjoined to this Act, stating shortly the origin of debt or ground of action, and concluding against the defender; which summons or complaint, being signed by the sheriff clerk, shall be a sufficient warrant and authority to any sheriff's officer for summoning the defender to appear and answer at the next sheriff court after the date of the citation, not being sooner than upon the sixth day after such citation, and also for summoning such witnesses and havers as either party shall require; and a copy of the said summons or complaint, with the citation annexed, and also a copy of the account, if any, shall be served at the same time by the sheriff's officer on the defender personally, or at his dwelling place, in which last case, if the defender shall not appear, he shall be cited a second time personally, or at his dwelling place, upon the words de novo being either subjoined to the original summons, and signed by the sheriff clerk, or written in the procedure book kept by the clerk, and signed by the sheriff, to appear at the next court after the date of the said citation, not being sooner than the sixth day after such citation; and if the defender has been cited for the first time to a diet of court not sooner than twelve free days from the date of the citation, it shall be lawful for the sheriff's officer, in case the defender shall not have been personally found at the first citation, to cite him a second time, either personally or at his dwelling place, to the same diet of court, on the authority of the original warrant, and without previously returning an execution of the first citation, provided that such second citation shall not be given sooner than upon the sixth day after the date of the first citation, nor later than upon the sixth day before the diet of court to which the defender is so cited for the second time; and the officer summoning parties witnesses or havers, shall in all cases under this Act return an execution of citation signed by him, or shall appear give evidence on oath of such citation having been duly made, and all such citations given by an officer alone without witnesses and executions thereof subscribed by such officer, shall be good and effectual to all intents and purposes.

and

IV. And be it enacted, That the pursuer of any civil cause may obtain a warrant, signed by the sheriff clerk of the county within which the defender resides, agreeably to the form in schedule (B.) subjoined to this Act, for arrestment, on the dependence of the action, of any money goods or effects to an amount or extent not exceeding the value of one hundred pounds Scots, owing or belonging to such defender, in the hands of any third party, and may at any time before decree is pronounced in the cause, provided such time does not exceed sixty days from the date of such warrant, use arrestment thereon against such money goods and effects owing or belonging to such defender, either within the county in which such warrant shall have been issued, or in any other county or counties: Provided always, that before using such warrant in any other county, it shall be presented to and indorsed by the sheriff clerk of such other county, who is hereby required to make such indorsement on payment of the fee herein-after mentioned; and provided also, that any arrestment laid on under the authority of this Act shall, on the expiry of three months from the date thereof, cease and determine without the necessity of a decree or warrant of loosing the same, unless such arrestment shall be renewed by a special warrant or order, duly intimated to the arrestee, in which case it shall subsist and be in force for the like time and under the like conditions as under the original warrant, or unless an action of forthcoming, in manncr herein-after provided, shall have been raised before the expiry of the

said period of three months, in which case the arrestment shall subsist No.XXXIV. and be in force until the termination of such action of forthcoming.

10 Geo. IV.

c. 55.

V. And be it enacted, That when any arrestment shall have been used on the dependence of any action, it shall be competent to the defender to have such arrestment loosed, on lodging with the sheriff clerk of the coun- For providing ty in which such arrestment shall have been used a bond or enactment of how Arrestcaution, by one or more good and sufficient cautioners, to the satisfaction ments may be of such sheriff clerk, agreeably to the form in schedule (B.) subjoined to loosed. this Act, or on consigning in the hands of such sheriff clerk the amount of the debt or demand, and a reasonable sum for expences, or on producing to such sheriff clerk evidence of the defender having obtained decree of absolvitor in the action, or of his having paid the sums decerned for, or of his having consigned in the hands of the clerk of the court in which the action depended the sums decerned for, or the amount of the debt or demand, and a reasonable sum for expences, when no decree has yet been pronounced; and a certificate by the sheriff clerk of the county in which such arrestment shall have been used, of a bond or enactment of caution to the extent of the debt or demand, and expences, having been lodged with him, or of consignation as above provided having been made in his hands, shall be a sufficient authority for obtaining a warrant for loosing any other arrestment used on the dependence of the same action, without any other caution being found, or any other consignation being made by the defender.

effectual.

VI. And be it enacted, That any person entitled to pursue an action of Rendering forthcoming, where the sum or demand shall not exceed the value of one Arrestments hundred pounds Scots, exclusive of expences and fees of extract, who shall choose to have the same heard and determined according to the summary mode provided by this Act, shall proceed by summons or complaint agreeably to the form in schedule (C.) subjoined to this Act, concluding for payment of the sum for which arrestment has been used, or for delivery of the goods and effects arrested, which summons or complaint, being signed by the sheriff clerk of the county in which the arrestee resides, shall be a sufficient warrant and authority to any sheriff's officer for summoning the arrestee and the common debtor to appear and answer at a sheriff court of the county in which the arrestee resides, the same not being sooner than the sixth day after the date of citation, and also for summoning witnesses and havers for all parties; and in the event of the common debtor not residing and not being found within the county in which such action of forthcoming shall be brought, he may be cited in any other county on the said warrant, the same being first presented to and indorsed by the sheriff clerk of such other county, who is hereby required to indorse the same on payment of the fee herein-after mentioned, to appear at a sheriff court in the county in which the arrestee resides, the same not being sooner in such case than on the twelfth day after the date of citation: Provided always, that the arrestee and the common debtor shall be cited to appear on the same court day, and that a copy of the said summons or complaint, with the citation annexed thereto, shall be served by the sheriff's officer on every defender personally, or at his dwelling place, all in the same manner and under the like conditions as to citation as hereinbefore provided in other causes and prosecutions under authority of this Act, but always allowing to a party cited to appear in the sheriff court of a different county from that in which the citation shall be given double the time required by this Act to be allowed to a party cited to appear in the sheriff court of the county within which the citation shall be given.

VII. And be it enacted, 'That every officer of court to whom any warrant as aforesaid for citing witnesses and havers shall be entrusted, shall Compelling cite such witnesses or havers as any party shall require; and all such war- Attendance of rants shall have the same force and effect in any other county as in the Witnesses. county where they are originally issued, the same being first presented to and indorsed by the sheriff clerk of such other county, who is hereby required to indorse the same, on payment of the fee herein-after mentioned;

c. 55.

No.XXXIV. and if any witness or haver, duly cited, shall fail to appear, it shall be 10 Geo. IV. competent to any party for whom such witness or haver is summoned, to apply for a new warrant to compel his attendance at the next court, or any subsequent court to which the case may be adjourned; which warrant shall require him to attend to give evidence, under a penalty not exceeding forty shillings, unless a reasonable excuse be offered and sustained; and every such penalty shall be paid to the party applying for the new warrant as aforesaid, and shall be recovered in the same manner as other penalties under this Act, without prejudice always to letters of second diligence, for compelling witnesses and havers to attend as at present competent; and it shall be no objection to any witness that such witness has appeared without citation, or without having been regularly cited.

Hearing and
Judgment.

Arrestment,

Procurators, &c., not to appear or plead, nor

Pleadings, &c. entered, with

out Leave of Court.

Parties not appearing or making sufficient Excuse, to be held confessed.

Re-hearing in Cases of Decree in Absence.

VIII. And be it enacted, That when the parties shall appear the sheriff shall hear them vivá voce, and examine witnesses or havers upon oath, and may also examine the parties, and may put them or any of them upon oath, and may pronounce judgment; and the decree stating the amount of the expences, if any, found due to any party, (which may include personal charges, if the sheriff think fit), and containing warrant for arrestment, and for poinding and imprisonment, shall be annexed to the summons or complaint, and on the same paper with it, agreeably to the form in schedule (A.) subjoined to this Act; which decree and warrant, being signed by the clerk, shall be a sufficient authority for instant arrestment, and also for poinding and sale, and imprisonment, six free days from the date of the decree, if the party against whom it shall have been given was personally present when it was pronounced, but if he was not so present, poinding and sale, and imprisonment, shall only proceed after a charge of six free days, by serving a copy of the complaint and decree on the party personally or at his dwelling place; and if any decree shall not be enforced by poinding or imprisonment within a year from the date thereof, or from a charge for payment given thereon, such decree shall not be enforced without a new charge duly given as aforesaid.

IX. And be it enacted, That no procurators solicitors nor any persons practising the law, shall be allowed to appear or plead for any party without leave of the court; nor shall any of the pleadings, arguments, minutes, or evidence be reduced to writing, or be entered upon any record, unless with leave of the court first had and obtained, in consequence of any difficulty in point of law, or special circumstances of any particular case: Provided always, that when the sheriff shall order any pleadings, arguments, minutes, or evidence to be reduced to writing, every case in which such order shall be made shall thenceforth be conducted according to the ordinary forms and proceedings in civil causes and in prosecutions for statutory penalties, and shall be disposed of in all respects as if this Act had not been passed.

X. And be it enacted, That any defender who has been duly cited personally, or by two citations at his dwelling place, failing to appear personally or by one of his family, or by such person as the sheriff'shall allow, shall be held confessed, and the other party shall obtain decree against him; and in like manner, if the pursuer or prosecutor shall fail to appear personally, the defender shall obtain decree of absolvitor, unless in either case a sufficient excuse for delay shall be stated; on which account, or on account of the absence of witnesses or any other good reason, it shall at all times be competent for the sheriff to adjourn any case to the next or any other court day, and to ordain the parties and witnesses then to attend.

XI. And be it enacted, That where a decree has been pronounced in absence of a defender, it shall be competent for him, upon consigning the sum decerned for in the hands of the clerk, at any time before the days of the charge shall elapse, to obtain from the clerk a warrant, signed by him, sisting execution till the next court day, or to any subsequent court day to which the same may be adjourned, and containing authority for citing the other party, and witnesses and havers for both parties; and the clerk shall be bound to certify to the sheriff on the next court day every such

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