then ask him whether he is guilty or not of the charge, and if such person shall say that he is guilty such justices shall thereupon cause a plea of guilty to be entered upon the proceedings and shall convict him of such offence and commit him to gaol (with or without h. 1. for not exc. 6 mos.) Provided always that the

said justices, before they asked such person whether he is guilty or not, shall explain to him that he is not obliged to plead or answer before them at all, and that if he do not plead or answer before them, he will be committed for trial in the usual course.

[Under this section the consent of the accused is immaterial. It is to be observed that under this section the justices have no power as they have under the first, to dismiss the party charged without proceeding to a conviction.]

S. 8. The justices by whom any person is convicted under this Act may order restitution of the property stolen.

Legal Principles, &c.

The law of England is divided into two kinds. (1) The common law, and statute law.

The common law includes the general customs, or the common law properly so called, which is the same both in England and Ireland; also the particular customs of certain parts of the Kingdom, and those particular laws that are by custom observed only in certain courts and jurisdiction.

The statute law is made by Act of Parliament.

An information is a charge on oath laid before a magistrate. An information in writing and on oath must first be made before a warrant to arrest, or to search can be obtained.

An information, when in writing should contain a simple but full statement and history of all the facts to which the witness can depose. It should be taken as nearly as possible in the witness's own words and in the first person. The use of technical terms and descriptions should be avoided. Where several persons are charged the separate acts done by each should be distinctly set forth. The Christian name and surname of the informant and of all persons named in his information should be stated in full, also the time and place of the offence.

A deposition is an information in writing taken in the presence and hearing of the accused, which fact should be therein set forth. Should the person who swears the deposition die before the trial, upon proof of his death, and that such deposition had been taken (according to form A b, of the schedule to 14 and 15 Vic., c. 93) in the presence and hearing of the accused. and that he or his counsel or attorney had an opportunity of cross-examining such witness, the deposition. can be read as evidence at the trial.

An affidavit is a written statement upon oath taken before a person duly authorised to administer the oath.

The term exhibit is usually applied to a document referred to in, but not annexed to, an affidavit or finformation or deposition shown to the witness when the affidavit is sworn and referred to by him in his evidence.

An indictment is a written accusation of one or more persons of a crime preferred to, and presented on oath by, a grand jury. The accusation is called a bill when presented to, and an indictment when found by, the grand jury. Twelve grand jurors must find for a bill.

A recognizance at common law is an obligation duly acknowledged, to do a certain thing stipulated. When persons under a rule of bail to keep the peace or be of good behaviour, commit a breach of such conditions, the recognizance can be "estreated.”

Certiorari (to be more fully informed) is the name. of a writ issued from the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice. It commands in the Queen's name the judges and officers of inferior courts. to certify and return the records of a cause defending before them to the end that the party may have more sure and speedy justice.

Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum (that you have the body to answer). This, the most celebrated prerogative writ in the English law, is a remedy for a person deprived of liberty. It is addressed to him who detains another in custody, and commands him to produce the

body, with the day and cause of his capture and detontion, and to do, submit to, and receive whatever the judge or court shall consider in that behalf (a).

An infant in law is a person under the age of twenty-one.

No act done by any person under seven years of age is a crime. No act done by any person over seven and under fourteen years of age is a crime, unless it be shown affirmatively that such person had sufficient capacity to know that the act was wrong. After fourteen a person is accountable.

No act is a crime if the person who does it is at the time when it is done prevented either by defective mental power or by any disease affecting his mind (a.) from knowing the nature and quality of his act; or (b.) from knowing that the act was wrong; or (c.) from controlling his own conduct, unless the absence of the power of control has been produced by his own default.

But an act may be a crime although the mind of a person who does it is affected by disease, if such disease does not in fact produce upon his mind one or other of the effects above mentioned in reference to that act. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, as every person is supposed to know the law.

A sane man is conclusively presumed to contemplate the natural and probable consequences of his own acts, and therefore the intent to kill is conclusively inferred from the deliberate violent use of a deadly weapon.

The possession of stolen property recently after the commission of a theft is prima facie evidence that the possessor was either the thief or the receiver according to the other circumstances. A like inference is raised in the cases of murder accompanied by robbery, arson, burglary, &c.

Cases which can be heard by magistrates out of Petty Sessions. One magistrate can hear and decide cases of drunkenness, vagrancy, fraud in the sale of goods, and disputes as to sales in fairs or markets (the value of

(a.) Habeas Corpus Act, 31 Ch. II., c. 2, enforced in Ireland by 21 and 22 Geo. III., c. 11 (Ir.) and 56 Geo. III., c. 100.

the article not being greater than £5). Two magistrates, when they shall see fit, may hear and determine any cases of summary jurisdiction out of Petty Sessions, when the offender shall be unable to give bail for his appearance at Petty Sessions (14 & 15 Vic., c. 93, s. 8).

Where offences committed on the boundaries of counties may be dealt with.-All offences committed on the boundary or boundaries of two or more counties, or within 500 yards of any such boundary, or begun in one county and completed in another, may be dealt with in any of the said counties as if they had been actually committed therein; or when committed in or upon any coach or carriage employed in any journey, or on board any vessel employed on any voyage on river, canal, &c., it may be dealt with, &c., in any county through any part of which such carriage or vessel passed.

Where offences committed on the high seas may be tried.-An English ship upon the high seas is to be considered as part of the territory of England, and where any person being a British subject charged with any offence on board a British ship on the high seas, or in any foreign port, or if any person, not being a British subject, charged with having committed any offence on board any British ship on the high seas, is found within the jurisdiction of any court of justice in Her Majesty's dominions, such court shall hear and try the case as if committed within the limits of its ordinary jurisdiction (18 & 19 Vic., c. 91, sec. 21).

EVIDENCE.

The word evidence includes all the legal means exclusive of mere argument, which tend to prove or disprove any matter of fact the truth of which is submitted · to judicial investigation. In legal investigations the true question is not whether it is possible that the testimony may be false, but whether there is sufficient probability of its truth, that is whether the facts are! proved by competent and satisfactory evidence. By

competent evidence is meant that which the law requires as the fit and appropriate proof in the particular case. By satisfactory evidence is meant that amount of proof which ordinarily satisfies an unprejudiced mind beyond reasonable doubt. The circumstances which will amount to this degree of proof can never be previously defined; the only legal test of which they are susceptible is their sufficiency to satisfy the mind and conscience of an ordinary man, and so to convince him, that he would venture to act upon that conviction in matters of important personal interest (Taylor on Evidence).

Burden of proof.-The onus of proving that a person is guilty of the crime with which he is charged lies on the person who asserts it. In all criminal proceedings it is for the prosecution to prove their case. The law presumes a man to be innocent till the contrary is proved.

The credibility of a witness depends upon the ! knowledge of the fact he testifies, his disinterestedness, his integrity, his veracity, and his being bound to speak the truth by such an oath as he deems binding.

LEADING RULES OF EVIDENCE.

(1.) In all cases of treason, two lawful witnesses are required to convict a prisoner; in almost all other cases, one witness is sufficient.. The prisoner's voluntary confession made according to statute before a magistrate, or his plea of guilty to an indictment in open court, is sufficient by itself to support a conviction.

(2.) An accomplice may become a witness or Queen's evidence against his fellows. A prisoner is not liable to be affected by the confession of his accomplices. In practice the unsupported evidence of an accomplice is not sufficient to convict the prisoner. It is not essential, however, that it be corroborated in every particular, for in that case his evidence would be superfluous.