PRACTICE OF THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE. Of Ecclesiastical, Admiralty, and Prize Appeals. Limitation of Time, 742.-Mode of Proceeding, ib.-Hearing, 743.— Appeals from the Vice Admiralty Courts, ib.-Rule as to Execution, ib.-Act transferring Jurisdiction of Court of Delegates to the Privy Council, ib.-Sections of 3 & 4 W. IV., c. 41, applicable to these Appeals, 745.-Orders in Council, 746.—Points of Practice, 749. THE practice in these appeals is exclusively confined to proctors, who conduct causes according to rules of which the legal profession at large have been kept in ignorance (a). From Mr. Swabey, however, the registrar of the High Court of Admiralty, I collect that appeals may be asserted before the Judge at the time of sentence, or may be interposed before a notary within fifteen days thereafter. In both instances the appeal must be prosecuted within a year and a day from the date of the sentence complained of. The mode of prosecution is by lodging the petition in the Registry of the Admiralty, which is the proper office for the reception of ecclesiastical, maritime, and (") Some years ago a treatise was prepared, I believe, with great ability, under the auspices of Government, by Mr. Swabey, for the purpose of regulating the practice of the Ecclesiastical and Maritime Courts at home and abroad. A certain number of copies was printed,- —as many as was required for the use of the officers of those tribunals; but the work has been stu diously withheld from the profane eye of the general public. prize appeals. It is transmitted thence to the Privy Council Office; submitted to her Majesty; and referred in the ordinary course to the Judicial Committee. After various proceedings at Doctors' Commons, before the Surrogates of the Privy Council, the cause, in due time, comes on for argument. At the hearing, the same course is followed as in other appeals before the Judicial Committee. The old civilian practice of beginning by supporting, and concluding by impeaching, the sentence complained of, is put an end to; and now the appellant opens, the respondent is then heard, and the case is closed by a reply from the appellant. On appeals from the Vice-Admiralty Courts abroad, bail must be given in the sum of 100l. to answer costs. The rule in all cases is, that the court below may proceed to execute the sentence complained of, provided the respondent give bail to abide the event of the appeal. I annex the act of the 2 & 3 Will. 4, c. 92, transferring the powers of the High Court of Delegates, both in ecclesiastical and maritime causes, to the Privy Council; the particular sections of the act of the 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 41, peculiarly applicable to the ecclesiastical and maritime tribunals; the order in council of the 9th December, 1833, regulating appeals from these to the Privy Council; and the order in council of the 10th December, 1833, appointing surrogates for the Privy Council in Doctors' Commons. An Act of the 2 and 3 Will. IV. c. 92, for transferring the Powers of the High Court of Delegates, both in Ecclesiastical and Maritime Causes, to His Majesty in Council. Whereas by an act passed in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, and intituled "The Submission of the Clergy and Restraint of Appeals," it is (amongst other things) provided, that for lack of justice at or in any of the Courts of the Archbishops of this realm, or in any of the King's dominions, it should be lawful to the parties grieved to appeal to the King's Majesty in the King's Court of Chancery; and that upon every such appeal a commission should be directed under the great seal to such persons as should be named by the King's Highness, his heirs or successors, like as in case of appeal from the Admirals' Court, to hear and definitively determine such appeals, and the causes concerning the same; which commissioners so by the King's Highness, his heirs or successors, to be named or appointed, should have full power and authority to hear and definitively determine every such appeal, with the causes and all circumstances concerning the same; and that such judgment and sentence as the said commissioners should make and decree in and upon any such appeal should be good and effectual, and also definitive, and that no further appeals should be had or made from the said commissioners for the same; and that all manner of provocations and appeals thereafter to be had, made, or taken, from the jurisdiction of any abbots, priors, or other heads and governors of monasteries, abbeys, priories, and other houses and places exempt, in such cases as they were wont or might afore the making of the act now in recital, by reason of grants or liberties of such places exempt, to have or make immediately any appeal or provocation to the Bishop of Rome, otherwise called Pope, or to the see of Rome, in all those cases every person and persons having cause of appeal or provocation should and might take and make their appeals and provocations immediately to the King's Majesty of this realm, into the Court of Chancery, in the manner and form as they used afore to do to the see of Rome; which appeals and provocations so made should be definitively determined by authority of the King's commission in such manner and form as was in the said act now in recital above mentioned, so that no archbishop or bishop of this realm should intermit or meddle with any such appeals otherwise or in any other manner than they might have done afore the making of the act now in recital; anything in the act now in recital to the contrary thereof notwithstanding: And whereas by an act passed in the eighth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and intituled “For the avoiding of tedious Suits in Civil and Marine Causes," it is provided, that every such judgment and sentence definitive as should be given and pronounced in any civil and marine cause, upon appeal lawfully to be made therein to the Queen's Majesty in her Highness's Court of Chancery, by such commissioners or delegates as should be nominated and appointed by her Majesty, her heirs or successors, by commission under the half seal, as it had been theretofore used in such cases, should be final, and that no further appeal should be made from the said judgment or sentence definitive, or from the said commissioners or delegates, for or in the same; any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding: And whereas the persons who from time to time have been appointed commissioners by commission under the great seal or under the half seal, by virtue of the authority of either of the herein-before recited acts, have been commonly called "The High Court of Delegates:" And whereas, notwithstanding the herein before recited acts, the King's Majesty for the time being hath out of his royal favour occasionally granted, upon petition to him in council made for that purpose, a commission under the great seal authorizing the commissioners therein named to review the judgments and decrees of the High Court of Delegates so appointed as aforesaid: And whereas it is expedient that the herein-before recited act of the eighth year of Queen Elizabeth, and also so much of the herein-before recited act of the twenty-fifth year of King Henry the Eighth as relates to the appeal to his Majesty in Chancery, should be repealed, and that all the powers which by virtue of either of the said acts have or might have been enjoyed by the said High Court of Delegates should be in future exercised by his Majesty in council, and that no such commission of review as aforesaid should hereafter be granted; be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the herein-before recited act of the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, so far as relates to any power thereby given to appeal in any case to the King's Majesty in his High Court of Chancery, and so far as the same empowers his Majesty to grant a commission under the great seal authorizing the persons therein named to hear and determine such appeals, shall, as from the first day of February one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, be and the same is hereby repealed. II. And be it also enacted, that the herein-before recited act of the eighth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth shall, as from the first day of February one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, be and the same is hereby repealed. III. And be it further enacted, that from and after the said first day of February one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three it shall be lawful to and for every person who might heretofore, by virtue of either of the said recited acts, have appealed or made suit to his Majesty in his High Court of Chancery, to appeal or make suit to the King's Majesty, his heirs or successors, in council, within such time, in such manner, and subject to such rules, orders, and regulations for the due and more convenient proceeding, as shall seem meet and necessary, and upon such security, if any, as his Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall from time to time by order in council direct; and that the King's Majesty, his heirs and successors, in council, shall thereupon have power to proceed to hear and determine every appeal and suit so to be made by virtue of this act, and to make all such judgments, orders, and decrees in the matter of such appeal or suit as might heretofore have been made by his Majesty's commissioners appointed by virtue of either of the herein-before recited acts if this act had not been passed; and that every such judgment, order, and decree so to be made by the King's Majesty, his heirs and successors, shall have such and the like force and effect in all respects whatsoever as the same respectively would have had if made and pronounced by the aforesaid High Court of Delegates; and that every such judgment, order, and decree shall be final and definitive, and that no commission shall hereafter be granted or authorized to review any judgment or decree to be made by virtue of this act. IV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing herein contained shall extend to affect any appeal now pending, or which before the said first day of February one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three may be pending, to his Majesty in Chancery, by virtue of either of the herein-before recited acts, or to affect the right of his Majesty to grant any such commission under the great seal or under the half seal as aforesaid, to hear and adjudicate upon any appeal so now pending, or which may before the said first day of February one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three be pending; and that every judgment or decree of the said High Court of Delegates, by virtue of either of the said recited acts, already made or hereafter to be made, in any cause so now pending or which shall be so pending as aforesaid, shall have such and the like force and effect in all respects as if this act had not been passed. Sections II. and XXIX. of the 3 and 4 Will. IV., c. 41, applicable to Ecclesiastical and Maritime Causes. II. And be it further enacted, that from and after the 1st day of June, 1833, all appeals or applications in prize suits, and in all other suits or proceedings in the Courts of Admiralty, or Vice Admiralty Courts, or any other court in the plantations in America, and other his Majesty's dominions, or elsewhere abroad, which may now, by virtue of any law, statute, commission, or usage, be made to the High Court of Admiralty in England, or to the Lords Commissioners in prize cases, shall be made to his Majesty in council, and not to the said High Court of Admiralty in England, or to such Commissioners as aforesaid; and such appeals shall be made in the same manner and form, and within such time wherein such appeals might, if this act had not been passed, have been made to the said High Court of Admiralty, or to the Lords Commissioners in prize cases respectively; and that all laws or statutes now in force with respect to any such appeals or applications, shall apply to any appeals to be made in pursuance of this act to his Majesty in council. XXIX. And be it further enacted, that, subject to such orders as his Majesty in Council shall from time to time make, it shall be lawful for the present registrar of the High Court of Admiralty, if he shall so think fit, either in person or by deputy, to attend the hearing by the said Judicial Committee of all causes and appeals which, but for this act, or the said last-mentioned act, would have been heard by any court or commission which such registrar was entitled to attend, in person or by deputy, by virtue of his offices of Registrar of the High Courts of Admiralty, delegates, and appeals for prizes, and likewise, subject to any order of his Majesty in Council, to transact, perform, and do all acts, matters, and things that shall be found necessary, or have heretofore been done by the said registrar, or his deputies, in respect of such causes and appeals. ORDERS IN COUNCIL. At the Court at Brighton, the 9th Day of December 1833 (a). WHEREAS by letters patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, certain persons, members of His Majesty's Privy Council, together with others, being Judges and Barons of His Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, have been from time to time appointed to be His Majesty's Commissioners for receiving, hearing, and determining appeals from His Majesty's Courts of Admiralty in causes of prize: and whereas in and by a certain act passed in a session of Parliament of the second and third years of His Majesty's reign, intituled "An Act for transferring the Powers of the High Court of Delegates, both in Ecclesiastical and Maritime Causes, to His Majesty in Council," it is amongst other things enacted, that from and after the 1st day of February, 1833, it shall be lawful for every person who might heretofore, by virtue of either of the acts in the said acts recited and thereby repealed, have appealed or made suit to His Majesty in his High Court of Chancery, to appeal or make suit to the King's Majesty, his heirs or successors, in council, within such time, in such manner, and subject to such rules, orders, and regulations, for the due and convenient proceeding as shall seem meet and necessary: and whereas by a certain other act passed in a session of Parliament of the third and fourth years of his Majesty's reign, intituled "An Act for the better Administration of Justice in his Majesty's Privy Council," it is amongst other things enacted, that certain persons, being members of his Majesty's Privy Council, and who shall from time to time hold or shall have held certain offices therein mentioned, shall form a committee of his Majesty's Privy Council, and shall be styled "The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council :" and whereas it is in the said act further enacted, that from and after the 1st day of June, 1833, all appeals or applications in prize suits, and in all other suits and proceedings in the Courts of Admiralty, or Vice-Admiralty Courts, or any other courts in the Plantations in America, or other his Majesty's dominions, or elsewhere abroad, which may now by virtue of any law, statute, commission, or usage, be made to the High Court of Admiralty in England, or to the Lords Commissioners in prize cases, shall be made to his Majesty in council, and not to the High Court of Admiralty in Eng. (a) On the same day another order was made by his Majesty in Council, whereby he revoked a previous order of council, dated the 5th of the preceding February, establishing rules for the conducting of appeals from the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, "save and except as to any matter or thing that may have been done in virtue thereof before the date of this order.' |