nalty of £5. See stat. 10 & 11 W. 3, c. 23, s. 7. 55 Geo. 3, c. 50. R. v. Williams, 3 B. & Ald. 215. R. v. Houldgrave, 1 B. & Ald. 312.

No clerk of the peace, or his deputy, shall act as attorney or agent at any General or Quarter Sessions at which he shall act as clerk of the peace or deputy, under penalty of £50. 22 Geo. 2, c. 46, s. 14.

County Treasurer.] The county treasurer is an officer appointed by the justices of the peace at their General or Quarter Sessions, for the purpose of receiving the sums levied for county rates, and paying the same to the orders of the justices in Sessions. See 12 Geo. 2, c. 29, s. 6. As to the security found by them, see Farr v. Holles, 9 B. & C. 315. R. v. Pattison, 4 B. & Adolph. 9. He shall account before the justices at every General or Quarter Sessions, 12 Geo. 2, c. 29, s. 7-9, and shall publish an abstract of his accounts once in every year. 55 Geo. 3, c. 51, s. 18. The justices at Sessions may allow him such remuneration as they shall think proper; see 55 G. 3, c. 51, s. 17, and 12 G. 2, c. 29, s. 12; and they may continue him in his office, or remove him at their pleasure and appoint another. 12 G. 2, c. 29, s. 12.

Sheriffs, Constables, &c.] The precept to summon the Sessions, mentioned ante, p. 12, requires the sheriff to make known to all coroners, keepers of gaols and houses of correction, high constables, and bailiffs of liberties within the county, that they be at the Sessions at the time appointed, to do and fulfil those things which by reason of their offices shall be to be done; and also that the sheriff himself be then there, to do and execute those things which belong to his office; all these may be deemed officers of the court. The sheriff, by himself or deputy, must attend there, for the purpose of returning jurors, receiving fines, &c.; the gaoler and keeper of the house of correction, to bring up their prisoners for trial &c., give in a calendar of those in their custody, and receive those who may be committed to their prisons by the court. The constables are the proper officers for keeping the court, attending the grand jury, waiting on the petty jury &c.; they must also be in attendance.

Attornies.] The attornies who practise at Quarter Sessions, although not required to be specially admitted by those Courts, yet they may be deemed officers of such Courts whilst they practise there. But in order to practise as an attorney at Sessions, the party must be admitted as such in one of the superior Courts at Westminster, 22 G. 2, c. 46, s. 12, and must have obtained his annual certificate, in the same manner as is necessary to enable him to act as attorney in the Courts at Westminster. See

1 Arch. Pr. C. P. 14, &c. [5] &c. The clerk of the peace or his deputy shall not act as attorney at Sessions, as has been already mentioned, ante, p. 19.

Officers of the Court in Boroughs.] The town clerk shall have the charge and custody of the records of the borough, and be responsible for the same; which records shall be kept in such place as the council from time to time shall direct. 5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 76, s. 65. See Arch. Corp. Act, 92, 9.

A clerk of the peace shall be appointed in every borough to which a separate Court of Quarter Sessions shall be granted; "the council of any such borough shall appoint a fit person to be clerk of the peace during his good behaviour." 5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 76, s. 103. He shall not be clerk to the magistrates. Id. s. 102. He shall give public notice of the time and place of holding every Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the borough, ten days at least before the holding thereof, and shall, seven days at least before the holding thereof, cause the grand and petty jurors to be summoned, and make out lists of such jurors, stating their christian and surname, places of abode and descriptions. Id. s. 121. His other duties are not defined by the Act, but it may be presumed that he will have to perform all those other duties, in relation to the borough, which a clerk of the peace for a county performs with reference to his county. A table of the fees to be taken by the clerk of the peace for a borough shall be made out by the council, and shall be submitted to and confirmed by one of the principal secretaries of state; and until such confirmation, the usual fees paid to the clerk of the peace for the adjoining county may be demanded. Id. s. 124.

A treasurer (not being the town clerk or a member of the council) shall be appointed every year by the council, who shall fix his salary or allowance, and take such security for the due execution of his office as they shall deem proper. Id. s. 58. This may be deemed an officer of the Sessions, as part of his duty consists in the paying of money to the order of the Court. See Id. s. 113, 59.

A sheriff is appointed every year by the council of the city of Oxford, town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all cities and towns which are counties of themselves. Id. s. 61. These are officers of the Court of Quarter Sessions of their respective boroughs. In all other cases the sheriff of the county, by himself or deputy, must attend.

As to coroners, see Id. s. 62, 63, 64.

Besides these officers, the council of the respective boroughs shall every year appoint all such other officers as have been usually appointed in such boroughs, and as they may deem necessary, and may fix their salaries &c. Id. s. 58.

5. Proceedings of the Court of Quarter Sessions generally.

Routine of Business.] As to the order in which the business is to be taken, the practice is different at different Courts of Quarter Sessions, and depends very much upon the nature and quantity of the business to be done. Some Courts begin with the appeals, others with the trials by jury. Most Courts of Quarter Sessions, however, begin with the appeals; and if there be a certainty of their lasting one day or more, the grand and petty juries are summoned for the day next after that on which the appeals are likely to terminate. If, on the other hand, the appeals are not likely to occupy an entire day, the jurors are of course summoned for the first day of the Sessions. And on the day for which the jurors are summoned, it is a rule with nearly all Courts of Quarter Sessions, to commence the business with the criminal trials, and to continue them without intermission from day to day, if necessary, until that part of the business of the Sessions is completed; for so many persons are attendant upon criminal trials, as jurors, prosecutors, witnesses, &c., to many of whom, engaged in business, a lengthened attendance, or indeed an attendance at all, at Sessions, may be a matter of serious inconvenience, that the justices, anxiously endeavouring to make the matter as little irksome to them as possible, after the criminal business has once begun, usually postpone all the other business of the Sessions until after that has been fully completed. Also, in fixing upon the order in which the business of the Sessions is to be taken, regard must be had to the prisoners, some of whom may possibly be innocent, and whose imprisonment therefore ought not to be prolonged one instant beyond what is unavoidably necessary. If, however, the quantity of business of all kinds, expected to come before the Court, be likely to occupy more time than is usually devoted to the Sessions, it will in that case be incumbent of the justices to take the necessary measures for dividing the Court, in the manner described in the next paragraph.

Division of the Court.] By stat. 59 Geo. 3, c. 28, s. 1, reciting that "Courts of Quarter Session, by reason of the great increase of business therein, have of late been occupied during many days, to the great delay of suitors, to the inconvenience of witnesses and jurors, and to the increase of the county rates; and such inconvenience is likely to continue, unless some remedy be provided for the same: And whereas it would tend materially to remedy this inconvenience if two or more of the justices attending the Quarter Sessions should be enabled to sit and proceed when occasion should so require, while other justices should proceed in

the dispatch of the other business of the same Court:" it is enacted, "that whenever and as often as any Court of Quarter Sessions or General Session of the Peace shall be assembled for the dispatch of business thereunto belonging, the justices then present may, on the first day of their being so assembled, take into their consideration the state of the business likely to be brought before them at such Quarter Sessions or General Session; and if it shall appear to them that such business, if heard and determined by the whole Court, is likely to occupy more than three days, including the day of their being so assembled, it shall and may be lawful for the said justices to appoint two or more justices, one of whom shall be of the quorum, to sit apart from themselves in some place in or near the Court, there to hear and determine such business as shall be referred to them, whilst others of the justices are at the same time proceeding in the dispatch of the other business of the same Court; and that the proceedings so had by and before such two or more justices so sitting apart, shall be as good and effectual in the law to all intents and purposes as if the same were had before the Court assembled and sitting as usual in its ordinary place of sitting, and shall be enrolled and recorded accordingly."

By sect. 2, it is provided, that, "when two or more justices shall have sat apart in manner before directed by this Act, and orders, rules, and regulations shall have been made for the apportionment of business, such orders, rules, and regulations shall remain and continue in force as long as shall be thought expedient, without the necessity of renewing such orders, rules, and regulations at each succeeding Session, to the intent that the same may become public and better known to all professional and other persons engaged in or in any manner interested in the business of such Quarter Session."

And by sect. 3, in every such case the clerk of the peace or his deputy shall appoint "a fit and sufficient person to record the proceedings so had before the justices sitting apart; and such proceedings shall be delivered over to the clerk of the peace or his deputy, and shall be equally deemed to be a part of the records of such session, as if the same proceedings had been recorded by the clerk of the peace himself; and it shall be lawful for the justices assembled at the Quarter Sessions to make an order upon the treasurer of the county to pay to the clerk of the peace such sum or sums of money as they shall deem a fit and reasonable remuneration to the clerk of the peace for such purpose as aforesaid; and it shall be lawful for such justices to appoint an additional cryer, and to grant him such remuneration for his care and pains as they shall deem reasonable, which shall in like manner be paid by the treasurer of the county."

Of course what is here said as to the division of the Session,

can have reference only to the Courts of Quarter Sessions for counties or ridings, and perhaps of such boroughs as are not within the Corporation Act.

Proceedings in Appeals.] The appeals must be entered with the clerk of the peace; those which may be respited until the next Sessions, and are intended to be so, may be entered at any time during the Sessions, upon a motion for that purpose by counsel; but in those which are not only to be entered, but tried also at the same Sessions, the entry should be in strictness before the sitting of the Court, and most Courts of Quarter Sessions, I believe, require it to be so; for otherwise the justices, upon their assembling, cannot be aware of the number of appeals they have to try. The appeals then which are to be tried, are either those which were entered at the last Sessions, and respited to the present Sessions, or those which were entered previously to the sitting of the Court at these Sessions; both appear in the book of the clerk of the peace, in the order in which they were entered.

The first thing done at Sessions is, of course, to open the Court. This is done by the cryer of the court making proclamation in these terms: 66 Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, all manner of persons who have any thing to do at the General [Quarter] Sessions of the Peace for this county, draw near and give your attendance."

The clerk of the peace then calls on the appeals in their order, as they appear entered in his book. If the parties to an appeal do not appear, by themselves or counsel, when it is thus called on, the Court will order the appeal to be struck out of the list; and they will not usually allow it to be restored to it, without the consent of the opposite party, or a very strong and satisfactory statement on the part of the appellant, supported by affidavit, or the oath of witnesses present, accounting for his absence. If the appellant appear, but the respondent do not, then upon the appellant's proving the service of the notice of appeal, &c., and that appearing to be regular, the Court will quash the order or conviction &c. appealed against; or if the respondent appear, and the appellant do not, the Court will confirm such order, &c.

If both parties be present when the appeal is called on, but one of them, by reason of the absence of witnesses or otherwise, be not ready to proceed, he may apply to the Court to postpone the trial until the next Sessions; and the Court may, in their discretion, grant the application, if they will, and upon such terms as they may think fair and reasonable. Where, upon an appeal against an order of filiation being called on at Sessions, the appellant applied to the Court to postpone the trial, upon an affidavit of the absence of a material witness, and the non-appearance of another of his witnesses on being called upon his subpoena; the Sessions however refused the application, and