Page images
PDF
EPUB

In what cases only. Aliens

XXIII. And be it enacted, That aliens shall only be Jurors in cases in which a Jury shall be Jurors. de medietate Linguæ shall be prayed for and obtained.

Persons convicted of cer

tain crimes not to be Jurors.

Mode of striking a Jury in Civil cases.

Order of calling and swearing Ju

rors.

Recital.

Sheriff to make

from his lists,

XXIV. And be it enacted, That no person convicted of Treason or Felony, or who shall have been condemned to any infamous punishment, shall be inscribed on the Jury list, nor shall serve and act as a Juror.

XXV. And be it enacted, That whenever it shall be required that a Jury be summoned to serve in a Civil case, either from the list of Common Jurors for civil causes, or from among the Special Jurors hereinafter mentioned, the Prothonotary or Clerk of the Court shall take the forty-eight Jurors whose names are first on the list, and shall continue to take them in that order until the lists be gone through; and it shall then be lawful for each party, Plaintiff and Defendant or their Attorneys respectively, to strike out of the said list the names of twelve of the said Jurors, and that the twenty-four Jurors remaining after such striking out shall be the Jurors to be summoned by the Sheriff, and from and among whom shall be taken the twelve Jurors who shall be sworn to hear and determine the matter at issue between the said parties, calling their names in the order in which they stand upon the lists, and swearing the first twelve who answer to their names.

XXVI. And whereas by the laws in force in this Province parties are entitled to a trial by Jury in certain Civil cases, which by reason of the amount demanded, are within the competence of the Courts of Queen's Bench sitting in Inferior Term, and of the Circuit Courts, and by the want of due provision for the summoning of Jurors in such cases, such parties are deprived of the exercise of their said right; for remedy thereof, Be it enacted, That the Sheriff of each District shall, so soon as may be possible after completing his lists of Jurors, transmit to the Clerk of each Court of Queen's Bench sitting in Inferior Term and of each Circuit Court within that part of his District, for and over which he is hereby required to make such lists of the persons qualified to serve as Jurors in Civil cases, and residing within the jurisdiction of such Court of Queen's Bench respectively in Inferior Term, and within such Circuit respectively, with the Christian name, surname, residence and legal addition of each; and such lists shall Bichists shall be kept by the said Clerks among the records of their Court respectively.

lists of Jurors residing within the jurisdiction of the Court of Q. B. in inferior Term and of the Circuit Courts respectively.

By whom

be kept.

Clerks of the

to make lists of Jurors resident in their

Circuits, and

localities to which the Sheriff's lists extend. Clerks and

XXVII. And be it enacted, That the Clerks of the Circuit Courts in the several CirCircuit Courts cuits or parts of Circuits beyond the local distances for which the said Sheriffs are by this Act required to make out such lists of Jurors shall respectively for their several Circuits or parts of Circuits aforesaid, with such assistance as the Sheriffs are entitled not within the to require as aforesaid, make lists of the persons qualified to serve as Jurors in civil cases and resident therein; and the Clerks or Prothonotaries of the Courts of Queen's Bench in Inferior Term and the Clerks of the said Circuit Courts respectively shall alone have the power and they are hereby authorized and directed whenever thereto legally Prothonotaries required, to summon from the lists so made by them and from such as shall be transmit ted to them by the said Sheriffs for the Circuits and parts of circuits within the local distances aforesaid, the said Jurors resident in the said Circuits and within the jurisdiction of the said Courts of Queen's Bench in Inferior Term respectively, and qualified as aforesaid to serve as Jurors in civil cases within the competence of the said Courts of Queen's Bench in Inferior Term and Circuit Courts respectively, in the manner and as directed by the provisions of this Act for the summoning of Jurors by Sheriffs for the Courts of Queen's Bench in the Inferior Terms thereof.

to summon persons to attend at Circuit Courts

and at Q B.in inferior Term,

XXVIII.

XXVIII. And be it declared and enacted, That the Court of Queen's Bench sitting in Inferior Term, and the Circuit Courts, respectively, have and shall have power to order a trial by Jury in any case where the same shall be demanded, and where by reason of the amount or value in dispute, and the nature of the case, a trial by Jury ought, according to the laws of Lower Canada, to be allowed.

XXIX. And be it declared and enacted, That the Judges of the several Courts of Queen's Bench have and shall have the same power to take trials by Jury in vacation in cases pending in the Inferior Term, as in cases pending in the Superior Term, such trials being had on days fixed by the said Courts respectively in Term; and the Juries to try such cases shall be struck and summoned in the same manner, and the Prothonotary of the Court and the Sheriff of the District shall obey the orders of the Court and of the Judges thereof respectively, in like manner, and shall perform the like duties with regard to such cases in the Inferior Term as with regard to cases in the Superior Term, in which a trial by Jury is allowed.

XXX. And be it enacted, That with regard to cases in which a trial by Jury shall be ordered in any Circuit Court, the Clerk of such Court shall perform, with regard to such case, the same duties as are assigned to the Prothonotary of the Court of Queen's Bench in cases in which a trial by Jury is allowed; and the Jurors shall be summoned by any sworn Bailiff authorized to execute the process of the Court; and the trial may be had either at any usual sitting of the Court, or in the vacation on some day appointed by the Court for that purpose at some sitting thereof.

XXXI. And be it enacted, That there shall be allowed in all cases in which a trial by Jury shall be had in any such Inferior Term or Circuit Court, in addition to all other fees lawfully chargeable in the case, the Fees following, three shillings and four pence to the Crier, and one shilling and three pence to the Tipstaff.

XXXII. And whereas it is expedient to make provision for enabling the parties to obtain Special Juries in cases where they are by law entitled to the same, Be it enacted, That such and every person who shall be party to any suit wherein a trial by a Special Jury may, according to law, be had, may, if he shall deem it expedient, demand that the issue or issues in the said suit be tried by a Special Jury, taken from among those qualified as hereinafter mentioned, and in the manner hereinafter provided.

persons

XXXIII. And be it enacted, That the Sheriffs of the said Districts respectively, shall make lists of the Special Jurors qualified under this Act, by taking from the proper local lists, and in the order in which they occur therein, the names of all the residing as aforesaid, qualified to serve as Grand Jurors in the Courts in Criminal matters, or at the Courts of Oyer and Terminer, or at the Sessions of the Peace, and the name of every Notary inserted in such local lists of Jurors.

[blocks in formation]

to be tried

first.

XXXIV. And be it enacted, That in all the Civil causes to be tried by a Jury, Certain issues whenever the capacity assigned to or assumed by either of the parties of the suit, shall be put in issue, the Court shall hear and determine the issue so raised, before the issues raised upon the merits shall be submitted to the Jury for their verdict.

One half the

Jury to be merchants or traders in certain cases of a commercial nature.

The whole Jury may be

merchants or traders by consent of

both parties.

Proviso: if

there be not a sufficient number of

traders on the list.

Tales allowed

for defect of Jurors by con

XXXV. And be it enacted, That in all suits between Merchant and Merchant, and Trader and Trader, in commercial matters, the Court upon demand of either party, may order that one-half of the persons to be summoned on the Jury be Merchants or Traders, and taken according to the order in which they may be found in the proper list, and that one-half of the Jurors sworn be also Merchants or Traders, and on the striking of such Jury, the Prothonotary or Clerk shall accordingly call over the names of at least twenty-four Jurors being Merchants or Traders, omitting names of others, after twenty-four names of such others shall have been called.

XXXVI. And be it enacted, That in all suits between Trader and Trader, and Merchant and Merchant, respecting commercial matters, the Court, by consent of all the parties, may order that the Jury be composed of Traders and Merchants whose names are inscribed in the proper list, and in the order in which they are inscribed, omitting the intermediate names of such as shall not be Traders and Merchants.

XXXVII. Provided always, and be it enacted, That if in the cases mentioned in the two next preceding sections, there be not upon any such list the number of Merchants or Traders who ought to be summoned to form the Jury, the number shall be completed by taking other names from the list in the order hereinbefore prescribed; but the names of the Jurors being Merchants or Traders shall be called before those of the other Jurors at the trial.

XXXVIII. And be it enacted, That if a part of the Jurors summoned in any case be challenged or make default, so that twelve Jurors fit and qualified cannot be sworn, sent of parties. the Court or Judge presiding may with the consent of the parties, and not otherwise, order the Sheriff or Officer by whom the Jury shall have been summoned, to complete the number by forthwith taking as many persons qualified to be Jurors, from among the persons present in Court, as may be wanted to complete the required number.

Certain parts of the Ordi

nance 25 Geo.

ed.

XXXIX. And whereas the reasons that have led to the enactment that all Merchants or Traders of lawful age, and also persons of lawful age being householders, or 3, c. 2, repeal- occupying lodgings of the value of fifteen pounds per annum rent, shall be held and considered qualified as Jurors, and to serve on Petit Juries, are no longer applicable to the present circumstances of the country: Be it therefore enacted, That so much of the fifteenth section of the Ordinance of the Province of Quebec, made in the twentyfifth year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Third, and intituled, An Ordinance to regulate the proceedings in the Courts of Civil Judicature, and establish trials by Juries in actions of a commercial nature, and personal wrongs to be compensated in damages in the Province of Quebec, as qualifies such persons as aforesaid to be Jurors, shall be and the same is hereby repealed.

Certain other parts of the

said Ordinance repealed.

XL. And whereas by means of this Act and the provisions thereof, the enactments contained in the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twenty-first sections of the Ordinance herein last cited, are become useless, or cannot be carried into effect; Be it therefore enacted, That the said sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twenty-first sections of the Ordinance herein last cited shall be and the same are hereby. repealed, except so much thereof as determines what cases and on what condition trials by Special Jury may be had: Provided always, that in any Civil case where both consent of par- parties shall consent that the Jury be summoned from the Parish of Quebec, or from the

Exception.

Proviso: Juries may by

Parish

Parish of Montreal alone, it shall be lawful for the Court to order that the Jury be so ties be sumsummoned, and they shall be so summoned accordingly.

n one! from the parish of Quebec or of alore Montreal, Allowance to rors for hir verdict: part Ordinance

Special. u.

of the sail

XLI. And be it enacted, That so much of the twentieth section of the said Ordinance as enacts that Jurors serving on Special Juries as aforesaid, and struck from the first list or Jury Book, shall have and receive two shillings and six pence each, for every verdict to be made and delivered, and before returned into Court, and Jurors struck from the second list or Jury Book, one shilling each for every verdict in manner aforesaid, shall be and the same is hereby repealed; and that, from and after the passing of repealed. this Act, each and every Juror summoned to give his verdict in any Civil matter shall have and receive the sum of five shillings currency, before giving such verdict in Court. XLII. And be it enacted, That every Sheriff who shall wilfully or negligently offend against any of the provisions of this Act shall, for the first offence, incur a penalty not exceeding fifteen pounds currency, nor less than ten pounds currency, and, for the second offence, a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds currency, nor less than fifteen pounds currency; and, for the third or any subsequent offence, a penalty not exceeding seventy pounds currency, nor less than thirty pounds currency.

XLIII. And be it enacted, That every person summoned to serve as a Juror under the authority of this Act, who shall refuse or neglect to serve as such without assigning some lawful cause or excuse therefor, shall incur a penalty not exceeding five pounds currency, which shall be levied on a rule or order of the said Court by the Sheriff on the goods and chattels of such person, and in default thereof by imprisonment for such time not exceeding fifteen days, as the said Court may direct, with power to reduce or mitigate the said penalty or imprisonment upon good cause shewn to the said Court.

XLIV. And be it enacted, That every person who shall refuse to furnish to the persons employed to make the lists of Jurors required by this Act, the information necessary for making the same, shall incur a penalty of not less than five shillings nor exceeding twenty shillings currency, to be recovered with costs in a summary manner by complaint before one Justice of the Peace.

Penalties on

Sheriff con

travening this

Act,

Penalty for not attending

when suul

oned as a

Juror.

Penalty on

persons refu

sing informa

tion.

recovered.

XLV. And be it enacted, That the penalties hereby imposed shall be sued for within Penalties how six months next after the offence committed, and not afterwards; and where no other mode of recovering them is herein provided, shall be recovered, with costs, by suit in any Court having Civil Jurisdiction to the amount of the penalty, in the District within which the offence shall have been committed; and that every such penalty shal! be levied with costs in the ordinary course of law: Provided always, that if any action, brought under this Act against the Sheriff, shall be declared by the judgment to be unfounded and vexatious, the Sheriff who shall be discharged therefrom shall be entitled to and shall recover full costs.

Costs given. Provisas

to vexatious suits against a Sheriff.

applied.

XLVI. And be it enacted, That one moiety of the penalties hereby imposed shall be- Penalties how long to Her Majesty, and be paid into the hands of the Receiver General, for the public uses of the Province, and make part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund thereof, and that the other moiety shall belong to and be paid to the person who shall sue for the penalty.

XLVII.

Accounting clause.

Laws not inconsistent

1

XLVII. And be it enacted, That the due application of all public monies expended under this Act shall be accounted for to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, through the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury for the time being, in such manner and form as Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors shall direct.

XLVIII. And be it enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to with this Act repeal any Act, Ordinance or provision of law, not hereby expressly repealed and not inconsistent with or repugnant to the provisions of this Act.

to remain in

force.

MONTREAL :-Printed by STEWART DERBISHIRE & GEORGE DESBARATS,
Law Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty.

« PreviousContinue »