Page. Reg. v. Burton, 18 Law J., M.C. (N.S.) 56 clx Reg. v. Bond, 14 Jur, part 1, p. 399, 19 L. J., M. C., 133 clxi cxlii Rex v. Boultbee, 4 Ad. & E. 498 CXxxiii Reg. v. Butterworth, per Sir Alfred Stephen, C. J., New cliv Reg. v. Campbell, per Sir Alfred Stephen, C. J., New Reg. v. Cheltenham (Commissioners) per Lord Denman, Reg. v. Christopher, 14 Jur., part 1, p. 203 clxxiii li Reg. v. Damame, per Baron Alderson, North Circuit, 1849. cii Rex v. Grady, 7 C. & P. 650 Rex v. Green, 5 Car. & P. 312, per Gurney, B. Rex v. Gudridge, 5 B. & C., 459 xxxi lxxvi xxxi clxi xxiii xxii XXX CXXX Reg. v. Harris, S. W. Circuit, Lent Assizes, 1844, per Rex v. Judge of Court of Admiralty, Hise v. Goschen. Rex v. Mitton, 3 Car. & P. 31, per Lord Tenterden lxxxiv Reg. v. Muldoon, per Sir Alfred Stephen, C. J., New INTRODUCTION. The three Acts of Parliament, adopted by the local Legislature of New South Wales, and arranged in the following pages, will, no doubt, be acceptable to the Magistrates of the Colony, whose judicial proceedings they will henceforth regulate, and whose liabilities, indemnities, and protection they clearly define. In submitting them to the public in the present form, it may not be unacceptable to those who are so deeply interested in the subject, to prefix a few general observations upon the duties of Magistrates-duties which, as Sir William Blackstone very properly observes, (a) "are of such "vast importance to the public as to make the "country greatly obliged to any worthy Magis"trate who, without sinister views of his own, engages in the troublesome service." 66 Commencing with those functions of a Justice of the Peace, wherein he is called upon merely to initiate criminal proceedings which are subsequently to be judicially determined before a higher tribunal, or to perform certain official formalities which do not involve any discretionary or judicial consideration, it is to be observed (a) 1, Bl. Com., 354. 11 & 12 Vict. c. 42. that these duties are properly called ministerial. They may be considered as subordinate to those judicial functions to which reference will hereafter be made; but although in the management of their ministerial proceedings, Justices are relieved from the responsibility of adjudicating upon the merits of the case before them, yet, when it is remembered that nearly all the criminal trials disposed of at the Central Criminal Court, the Circuit Courts, and Quarter Sessions, frequently involving cases of great technical difficulty, and of intense public interest, are first investigated before Justices of the Peace, who, not unfrequently, have to select the materials for the prosecutor's case from a mass of confused testimony, it will be admitted that this portion of their duties demands great consideration and care, and is not unworthy the attention of the most experienced mind. In considering the nature of these duties, it is first proposed to describe the practical proceedings upon the committal of a prisoner for trial in felony, as well as misdemeanor, and binding over the prosecutor and witnesses to appear and give evidence thereon. The several statutes which regulated the duties of Justices of the Peace in proceedings against persons charged with indictable offences, have recently been consolidated by the Act of 11 & 12 Vict., c. 42, and new provisions added for the purpose of enabling them better to conduct such initiatory proceedings. It is therefore only necessary, in this place, to give little more than an abstract of such of the provisions of the Act as relate to the manner of proceeding, up to the moment of the Magistrates deciding either to dismiss the charge altogether, or to commit the prisoner for trial, or admit him to bail, to answer the charge at the Supreme Court, the Circuit Court, or Quarter Sessions. Whenever any person has committed any treason, felony, or indictable misdemeanor, or |