Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
BARRACKS, CAMP
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: BAR-BEC
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:BARRACKS, See also:CAMP , and CANTONMENTS). I See also:calendar, later in 183o by specifying the first See also:week after the
There are many technical uses of the word, in which the 11th of See also:October, 28th of See also:December, 31st of See also: In the county of London there are a paid chairman and See also:deputy chairman, who must be barristers of at least ten years' See also:standing, and are appointed by the See also:crown. There is See also:special legislation as to quarter sessions in the county See also:palatine of See also:Lancaster; and in the See also:Salford See also:Hundred of that county there is a paid chairman. There is also special legislation as to See also:Kent, and arrangements have been made by which in See also:Sussex and See also:Suffolk the quarter sessions for the See also:east and See also:west divisions are virtually distinct courts. Under the Quarter Sessions Act 1858 the court may sit in two divisions of at least two justices at the same time and place, but not simultaneously in See also:separate parts of the same county except under statutory authority as in London.
The court may sit while the assizes for the county are being held, but usually refrains from doing so because of the inconvenience which would be occasioned, and adjusts its sittings so as to avoid clashing with the assizes. The See also:chief officer of the court is the clerk of the peace, who acts as clerk to the court, records its proceedings, calls and swears the juries, draws many of the indictments, receives the bills returned by the See also:grand See also:jury, arraigns the prisoners and taxes the See also:costs. In a county he is appointed by a standing See also:joint-See also:committee of the quarter sessions and the county See also:council, and has See also:charge of, and responsibility for, the records and documents of the county subject to the directions of the custos rotulorum or the quarter sessions or the county council (See also:Local Govt. Act 1888, s. 83).
Boroughs.—The See also:jurisdiction of the court of quarter sessions of a See also:borough does not depend upon the commission of the peace, but upon the Municipal Corporations Act 1882. Many boroughs have a separate commission of the peace (which does not contain the words of the county commission giving jurisdiction to try indictments), but have not received the See also: Under that act and the act of 1882 a grant of quarter sessions to a See also:city or borough is made by the crown in council on See also:petition of the See also:town council. The See also:recorder, a See also:barrister of not less than five years' standing appointed by the crown, is See also:sole See also:judge of the court, though the See also:mayor can adjourn it in the See also:absence of the recorder; he has a discretion to See also:fix his own See also:dates for the holding of the court, so See also:long as he holds it once in every quarter of a year; and it may be held more frequently if he think See also:fit, or a secretary of See also:state so directs; he has no power to allow, apportion, make or See also:levy a borough See also:rate or to grant a See also:licence for the See also:sale of excisable liquors by See also:retail; a deputy may be appointed by the recorder, or in the event of his being unable to make the See also:appointment by a secretary of state. Subject to these qualifications the court has the same jurisdiction as county quarter sessions.
The city of London is not subject to the Municipal Corporations Act 1882, and its court of quarter sessions is created by the city charters, and is held before the mayor and aldermen with
' In the soke of Peterborough commissions of oyer and terminer, and See also:gaol delivery, as well as a commission of the peace, are issued.the recorder. It does not now sit to try indictments, which all go to the Central Criminal Court.
There is special legislation as to quarter sessions in the Cinque Ports. In a borough the clerk of the peace is appointed by the town council and holds See also:office during See also:good behaviour (Municipal Corporations Act 1882, s. 164).
Criminal Jurisdiction, Original.—Courts of quarter sessions in counties and boroughs have both original and appellate jurisdiction depending on the commission of the peace and on legislation beginning in 1344. This jurisdiction is derived in counties from the commission of the peace, which directs the justices " to inquire the truth more fully by the See also:oath of good and lawful men of the county, by whom the truth of the See also:matter shall be better known of all manner of crimes, trespasses, and all and singular other offences of which the justices of our peace may or ought lawfully to inquire," " and to hear and determine all and singular the crimes, trespasses and offences aforesaid " " according to the See also:laws and statutes of our See also:realm." " Provided always that if a See also:case of difficulty upon the determination of any of the premises before you shall happen to arise then let See also:judgment in no See also:wise be given " " unless in the presence of one of the justices of See also:assize for the county." This proviso has been read as requiring the justices to reserve the graver felonies for trial at the assizes, or to transmit to assizes indictments found at quarter sessions which raised difficult questions. Quarter sessions never dealt with See also:forgery or See also:perjury, but at one time assumed jurisdiction over almost every other See also:form of See also:crime. By the Quarter Sessions Act 1842 and subsequent legislation, they are forbidden to try the following offences: See also:treason or See also:misprision of treason; See also:murder, See also:capital See also:felony or any felony (except See also:burglary) which is punishable on a first conviction by penal See also:servitude for See also:life; offences against the See also: 75–85) of the See also:Larceny Act as amended by the Larceny Act 1901; and conspiracies to commit offences which the court could not try if committed by one person. Trials before the court with a jury are governed by the same See also:procedure as trials on See also:indictment in a court of assize. Under the See also:Vagrancy Act 1823 and amending acts, they have special See also:powers of sentencing incorrigible rogues sent to them by courts of See also:summary jurisdiction, and under the act of 136o and the commission of the peace they can, but now rarely do, exercise an original and summary jurisdiction as to articles of the peace (see See also:RECOGNIZANCE). They have power to See also:estreat recognizances entered into before themselves or before courts of summary jurisdiction and returned to them for See also:record or See also:forfeiture, but by the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1879 the exercise of the latter power has been rendered unnecessary. Appellate.—An See also:appeal lies to quarter sessions from convictions by a court of summary jurisdiction only where such an appeal is expressly given by statute. The number of statutes giving such right of appeal is very See also:great. The appellate jurisdiction has been considerably increased by the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1879, which allows (s. 19) an appeal (with certain exceptions) from every conviction or See also:order of a court of summary jurisdiction inflicting imprisonment without the See also:option of a See also:fine. The appeal may be brought in accordance with the act giving the appeal or the Summary Jurisdiction Acts. Most of the special procedure in statutes giving the right to appeal has been swept away by the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1884. See also:Civil Jurisdiction, Original.—Originally the county justices were confined to the exercise in or out of sessions of the powers given by the commission of the peace and of certain statutory duties as to rioters, &c. Under the Tudors and Stuarts the justices acting under the supervision of the Privy Council and the court of king's See also:bench gradually became the rulers of the county in administrative and social as well as judicial matters (F. W. See also:Maitland, See also:Justice and See also:Police, 1885, p. 8o). The See also:process by which this..result was attained is traced in See also:Webb's See also:English Local Government (1907, vol. i.). The effect of the See also:change was the supersession by nominees of the crown of the See also:common law authorities and See also:officers of county, hundred and township. But the change extended only to a small extent to municipal boroughs. By legislation in and since 1888 most of the administrative powers and duties of justices in general and quarter sessions have been transferred to the incorporated and elective See also:councils' of counties, boroughs and See also:urban and rural districts. But the justices still possess certain original., civil or quasi-civil jurisdiction with respect to the extinction of licences to sell intoxicants, and jointly with the county councils over the county police, and as to closing highways, and also powers as to fixing the See also:petty sessional divisions of their county. Appellate.—Theoretically quarter sessions have original jurisdiction in any matter as to which two justices have jurisdiction, unless the statute giving the jurisdiction gives an appeal to quarter sessions as a result of this See also:rule. Most of the civil jurisdiction of quarter sessions is now appellate, i.e. with reference to orders made by justices out of quarter sessions as to the See also:settlement and removal of paupers, or under the See also:Highway, Licensing and Bastardy Acts, or as to appeals against assessments or rating. The procedure as to each form of appeal depends partly on the statute by which it is given and partly on the general provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction Acts 18i9 and 1884. In substance their only original jurisdiction in civil or quasi-civil matters is now in cases of apprentice-See also:ship (5 See also:Elie. c. 4) and articles of the peace (i Edw. III. st. 2, c. 16). Appeal from Quarter Sessions.—There is no appeal properly so called from quarter sessions to the High Court either on facts or law. But decisions on law may be reviewed by the High Court (king's bench See also:division) by means of certiorari, See also:mandamus or See also:prohibition; convictions on indictment before courts of quarter sessions are within the provisions of the Criminal Appeal Act 1907 (see APPEAL), except convictions on indictments for obstruction or non-repair of a public See also:bridge, highway or See also:river, from which an appeal lies to the court of appeal in the same way as in the case of civil actions tried at assizes. Quarter sessions have also power to reserve a special case for the High Court on conviction or indictment (Crown Cases Act 1848), and also in other cases to consult the High Court by special case stated under the commission or under the Quarter Sessions Act 1849. Questions of law alone can be referred by special case, and there is no means of compelling the court to state a case. The procedure as to cases not within the acts of 1848, 1849 and 1907 is regulated by the Crown Office Rules of 1906, and s. 2 of the Judicature Act 1894, which gives the High Court certain powers of See also:drawing inferences of fact from the See also:evidence taken in the court below. See also:Scotland.--Justices of the peace were established in Scotland by act of 1587, c. 82, and quarter sessions by act of 1661, c. 
338 (I2mo edition, c. 38), which directs that the justices of peace in each respective. See also:shire shall meet and convene together four times in the year, on the first Tuesday of March, May and See also:August, and the last Tuesday of October, to administer justice to the See also:people on things that are within their jurisdiction, and punish the guilty for faults and crimes done and committed in the preceding quarter. The obsolete details in this act were repealed in 1906, but the power of requiring law burrows, i.e. sureties to keep the peace, is preserved. By the See also:Union with Scotland Amendment Act 1707 See also:provision was made for appointing justices of the peace in shires, stewartries and burghs in Scotland: and the justices to be appointed are given authority to exercise whatever doth appertain to the office and court of a justice of peace by virtue of the laws and acts of parliament made in England before the Union in relation to and for the preservation of the public peace. " Provided that in the sessions of the peace the methods of trial and judgments shall be according to the law of Scotland." The quarter sessions do not sit for the trial of indictments, but have powers of reviewing the decisions of justices in petty sessions (see SUMMARY JURISDICTION). This power extends, inter alia, to See also:revenue cases and cases under the Pawnbrokers Acts. Their jurisdiction as to the grant and refusal of liquor licences was taken away by the Licensing Scotland Act 1903, but they still have appellate jurisdiction as to offences under the Licensing Acts, ss. 101-103. An appeal lies to the See also:Circuit Court of See also:Justiciary unless the statute under which they act otherwise provides. In criminal matters their functions are not considerable, most of the See also:work done by justices in England being in Scotland dealt with by the See also:sheriff or his substitutes, or by stipendiaries in the great cities. Their decisions in criminal cases are reviewable by the Court of Justiciary and in revenue cases by the court of See also:exchequer. Their original jurisdiction is very limited and almost wholly civil. Thus they have power to See also:divide a county and to make rules for the purposes of the Justices of the Peace Small Debts Acts 1825 and 1849. See also:Ireland.—In Irish municipal boroughs a court of quarter sessions may be granted and a recorder appointed under an act of 1840. In the case of See also:Dublin, See also:Cork, See also:Belfast, See also:Londonderry and See also:Galway, the office of recorder may be See also:united with that of chairman of quarter sessions for the adjoining county. The general criminal jurisdiction of the quarter sessions has the same origin and is on the same lines as in England; but the limitations imposed as to offences which may be tried are not so narrow as in England. The sessions, &c., are regulated in the main by an act of 1851. The appellate jurisdiction rests on different statutes from those applicable to England, but is on the same lines (see 14 & 15 Vict. e. 93; 40 & 41 Vict. C. 56). In Ireland quarter sessions courts are held before a salaiied officer once styled the assistant barrister and now chairman, who is usually also judge of a civil See also:bill court (the Irish county court), or recorder of a neighbouring city or borough. The appointment and See also:tenure of office of the chairman is regulated by statutes datirg from 1851to 1889. The jurisdiction of the court is not limited by the Quarter Sessions Act 1842. See also:India.—In India courts of record were established in See also:Madras and Bombay, originally styled mayors' courts and subsequently made recorders' courts, with a jurisdiction corresponding as to criminal matters to that of a borough court of quarter sessions in England. Throughout India there are under the Criminal Procedure See also:Code of 1898 courts of sessions in each See also:province for the purpose of criminal jurisdiction, which take the place of assizes and quarter sessions in England. They are under the supervision of the High Courts; but can try and See also:sentence for any crime, subject as to sentences of See also:death to See also:confirmation by the High Court. See also:Canada.—In Canada courts of general quarter sessions exist in some provinces, e.g. See also:Quebec. In New See also:Brunswick they are replaced by the county court. Their jurisdiction to try indictable offences is defined by See also:Part 42 of the Criminal Code 1892. See also:Australia.—In See also:Queensland the place of quarter sessions is taken by the See also:district courts, which have a criminal jurisdiction substantially the same as that of the English court of quarter sessions (31 Vict. No. 30, s. 117). In New See also:South See also:Wales quarter sessions continue. In See also:Victoria a court of general sessions has been created by statute with powers closely resembling those of the English court of quarter sessions (re Dunn, 1906, Victoria State See also:Rep. 493). United States.—Courts of quarter sessions exist in many of the states; their jurisdiction is determined by state legislation, and extends as a rule only to the less See also:grave crimes. They are in most, if not all, states held before professional See also:judges. (W. F. C.) QUARTER-See also:STAFF, a staff of See also:wood from 6 to 9 ft. in length, used as a means of attack and See also:defence; originally no doubt it was the cudgel or sapling with which many heroes are described by See also:early writers as being armed. The quarter-staff attained great popularity in England in the See also:middle ages. It was usually made of See also:oak, the ends often shod with See also:iron, and it was held with both hands, the right See also:hand grasping it one quarter of the distance from the See also:lower end (whence the name) and the See also:left at about the middle. See also:Egerton See also:Castle (See also:Schools and Masters of Fence) says that the staff was the " See also:foil," or practice-substitute for the long See also:sword, or two-hander. In earlier times it may also have been used as a practice weapon for the See also:spear and bill. In the prints illustrative of the life of See also:Richard See also:Beauchamp, See also:earl of See also:Warwick (1382-1439), reproduced in See also:Joseph See also:Strutt's See also:Manners, Customs, Arms, Habits, &c. of the Inhabitants of England, may be seen a combat between two knights after they have splintered their lances and dismounted, in which both are fighting with pointed staves about as long as a quarter-staff and held in the same manner. In the 17th See also:century the staff was still popular in England. At the present time the quarter-staff is used to a limited extent in military circles as a school for See also:bayonet See also:play. It is somewhat lighter than the old weapon, being usually made of See also:bamboo and about 8 ft. long. Sabre-masks, gloves, padded jackets and shin-See also:guards are worn. Another See also:kind of staff, called by See also:Captain A. See also:Hutton (See also:Cold See also:Steel) the Great Stick, about 5 ft. long and made of stout rattan, is used in the See also:French and See also:Italian armies in general gymnastic exercises and as a school for bayonet play. The Italian method rather resembles that of the old two-handed sword, while the French approaches more closely to English quarter-staff play. See Quarter-Staff, -by T. A. McCarthy (London, 1883) ; Broadsword and Singlestick, by R. G. Allanson-Winn and C. See also:Phillips-Wolley (London, 1898). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] BARRACKS (derived through the French from the Late ... |
[next] BARRANDE, JOACHIM (1799-1883) |