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Petit Jury - Law Dictionary Search Results

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Sessions of the peace

Sessions of the peace, sittings of justices of the peace for the execution of those powers which are confided to them by their commission, or by charter, and by numerous statutes. They are of three descriptions:-I. Petty Sessions.--Metropolitan Police magistrates can act alone (see that title), with that exception, every meeting of two or more justices in the same place, for the execution of some power vested in them by law, whether had on their own mere motion, or on the requisition of any party entitled to require their attendance in discharge of some duty, is a petty or petit session. The occasions for holding petty sessions are very numerous, amongst the most important of which is the bailing persons accused of felony, which may be done after a full hearing of evidence on both sides, where the presumption of guilt shall either be weak in itself, or weakened by the proofs adduced on behalf of the prisoner. See PETTY SESSIONS.As to right of the public to attend petty sessions, see OP...


Lords Justices of Appeal

Lords Justices of Appeal, the title of the ordinary judges of the Court of Appeal, by the Jud. Act, 1877, s. 4 (see now Jud. Act, 1925, s. 6 (3)). As to the functions of the Lords Justices sitting as a Court of Appeal from a judge without a jury, see Powell v. Streatham Manor Nursing Home, 1935, AC 243; and from a judge with a jury, Mechanical and General Inventions Co. Ltd. v. Austin Motor Co. Ltd., 1935 AC 346. Prior to the Jud. Acts there were two 'Lords Justices of Appeal, in Chancery,' to whom an appeal lay from a vice-chancellor by 14 & 15 Vict. c. 83....


County Courts

County Courts. The old County Court was a tribunal inident to the jurisdiction of a sheriff, but was not a Court of Record. Proceedings were removable into a superior court by recordari facias loquelam, or writ of false judgment. Outlawries ofabsconding offenders were here proclaimed.Far more important inferior tribunals have now been established throughout England. They were first established in 1846 by 9 & 10 Vict. c. 95, 'the Act for the more easy recovery of Small Debts and Demands in England,' repealed and re-enacted with fourteen amending Acts by the consolidating and amending (English) County Courts Act, 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 43), an Act very materially but very shortly amended by the (English) County Courts Act, 1903 (3 Dew. 7, c. 42), which came into operation on the 1st January, 1905, and raised the common law jurisdiction from 50l. (to which amount it had been raised by an Act of 1850 from the original 20l. under the Act of 1846) to 100l. The number of jurors was also raise...


Jury

Jury [fr. jurata, Lat.; jure, Fr.], a number of persons sworn to deliver a verdict upon evidence delivered to them touching the issue.Trial by jury may be traced to the earliest Anglo-Saxon times. One of the judicial customs of the Saxons was that a man might be cleared of an accusation of certain crimes, if an appointed number of persons (juratores, or more properly compurgatores) came forward and swore to a veredictum, that they believed him innocent. It is remarkable that for accusations of any consequence among the Saxons on the continent, twelve juratores was the number required for an acquittal. Similar customs may be observed in the laws of Athens and Rome, where dikaotai and judices answer to jurors, an of the continental Angli and Frisiones, though the number of jurors varied.See, as to the introduction and growth of trial by jury in England, Forsyth's History of Trial by Jury; and for comments on and proposed amendments of the law, see Erle's Jury Laws and their Amendment, pu...


question

question 1 : a particular query directed to a witness compare interrogatory hy·po·thet·i·cal question [hī-pə-the-ti-kəl] : a question directed to an expert witness (as a physician) that is based on the existence of facts offered in evidence and the answer to which is an opinion to be considered in light of the evidence NOTE: Modern rules of evidence have lessened the need for a hypothetical question setting forth all of the facts to be assumed in answering the question. An expert witness may state an opinion based on data or facts considered reliable in his or her field even if not already disclosed or not admissible as evidence. leading question : a question so framed or presented as to suggest a particular answer [leading questions should not be used on the direct examination of a witness except as may be necessary to develop his testimony "Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 611(c)"] NOTE: Leading questions are permitted in direct examination of ...


Oath

Oath [fr. ath, Sax.], an appeal to God to witness the truth of a statement. It is called a corporal oath, where a witness, when he swears, places his right hand on the Holy Evangelists.The Christian religion, though it prohibits swearing, excepts oaths required by legal authority (Art. Ch. of Engl. xxxix.). All who believe in a God, the avenger of falsehood, have always been admitted to give evidence, but the old rule was, that all witnesses must take an oath of some kind. Very gradually, however, the legislature has relaxed this rule, and the privilege of affirming (see AFFIRMATION) instead of taking an oath has now been universally granted by the (English) Oaths Act, 1888, by which--Every person upon objection to being sworn, and stating, as the ground of such objection, either that he has no religious belief, or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief, shall be permitted to make his solemn affirmation instead of taking an oath in all places and for all purpose...


Justices

Justices, officers deputed by the Crown to ad-minister justice and do right by way of judgment. The judges of the Supreme Court are called justices, but the word is usually applied to petty magistrates who sit to administer summary justice in minor matters, and who are commonly called justices of the peace. They were first appointed in 1327 by 1 Edw. 3, st. 2, c. 16, and are now appointed by the king's special commission under the Great Seal, the form of which was settled by all the judges in 1590, and continues, with little alteration, to this day. Consult Putnam's Early Treatises on the Practice of the Justices of the Peace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. This appoints them all, jointly and severally, to keep the peace in the county named; and any two or more of them to inquire of and determine felonies and other misdemeanours in such county committed, in which number some particular justices, or one of them, are directed to be always included, and no business done without ...


objection

objection 1 : an act or instance of objecting ;specif : a statement of opposition to an aspect of a judicial or other legal proceeding [file an to a proposed bankruptcy plan] 2 : a reason or argument forming the ground of an objection NOTE: Objections at trial are generally made for the purpose of opposing the admission of improper evidence. Such an objection must be made in a timely manner. Objections prevent the jury from seeing or hearing the evidence and preserve the issue for appeal. Objections may also be made on the ground of the opposing counsel's improper methods (as leading a witness) or for other technical reasons. ...


Reclaiming

Reclaiming, the action of a lord pursuing, pro-secuting, and recalling his vassal, who had gone to live in another place without his permission. Also the demanding of a thing or person to be delivered up or surrendered to the princeor State it properly belongs to, when by some irregular means it has come into the possession of another.The procedure of appeal to the Inner House from the Outer House of the Court of Session in Scotland (except in jury cases)....


Finding

Finding, the word 'finding', will only cover material questions which arise in a particular case for decision by the authority hearing the case or the appeal which, being necessary for passing the final order or giving the final decision in the appeal, has been the subject of controversy between the interested parties or on which the parties con-cerned have been given a hearing, C.I.T. v. Vadle Pulliah, AIR 1973 SC 2434 (2436). [Income Tax Act, 1922 s. 34(3), Second Proviso] I.T.O. v. Murlidhar Bhagwandas, AIR 1965 SC 342: (1964) 6 SCR 411.The expression 'finding' means a finding necessary for giving relief in respect of the assessment for the year in question and, therefore, no decision can be said to be a finding within the meaning of this provision unless it can be said of it that it was necessary for the disposal of the appeal or proceeding, Commissioner of Income Tax v. S. Raghubir Singh Trust Through Chairman Major Harjender Singh, AIR 1980 SC 98: (1980) 2 SCC 212.Means the year ...


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