The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, February 14th.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 447, 14 February 1857, Page 7

The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, February 14th.

It will be perceived by a recent proclamation issued by his Honor the Superintendent, that the first sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court, under the Act for extending the jurisdiction of that Court, will take place in the Town Hall, at Lyttelton, on Tuesday next. A few words of, explanation, therefore, respecting the Act itself may at the present time be not inappropriate. On the rejection by the Legislative Council of a more complete and elaborate measure for the establishment of 'District Courts' with both a criminal and civil-jurisdiction, the present Act was prepared, we believe, by Mr. Fitz Gerald, and, at a late period of the session, was, by the exertions of other Canterbury members, passed through both houses of the General Assembly. It does not, as the rejected bill did, establish an entirely new tribunal, but makes use of the already existing Resident Magistrate's Court, and confers upon it power to deal with civil cases, (with -certain exceptions,) in which the debt or damage claimed does not exceed £100. It must, therefore, be understood that the Court in ; which ■ such cases will be tried is the old Resident Magistrate's Court, armed generally with the same powers, subject to the same^ limitations, and regulated by the same principles as heretofore. The alterations introduced by the Act are few but important. In the first place, in every case in which the debt or damage claimed exceeds five poun.ds,the plaintiff or defendant may require the case to be .tried, by a jury, which is to consist of four persons. In the event of this jury having on any occasion remained six hours in deliberation without having been able to agree upon a verdict, it is to be discharged; and if the amount involved does not exceed £20, the presiding Magistrate will determine the case summarily ; if the amount does exceed that sum no judgment ' will be given. An important and desirable feature in the Act is the facility which it provides for obtaining the decision of a Judge of the Supreme Court upon disputed points, of law, thus obviating to a great extent the objection to the Resident Magistrate's Court being presided over by a' nonprofessional'mail. .In any case which involves a sum exceeding ten pounds, either party may appeal from a decision upon any pointof lawtotheSupremeCourt; a very simple and inexpensive mode of appeal is provided by the Act, and the Judge of the Supreme Court is required to give his decision on such appeal in fourteen daj's. The presiding Judge of the Resident Magistrate's Court may also, of hisovni accord, "reserve any : vexed question of law for the decision of the Supreme Court. By these means

suitors in our- Resident Magistrate's Court' will be enabled to obtain the,decision of the Puisne Judge, on points of law, at one-half the expanse' which would be entailed on them by a suit in.the Supreme Court itself. Owing, we believe, to some misunderstanding, the recommendation of the Superintendent that the sittings of this Court should be held both in Lyttelton and in. Christchurch has not been carried out in the Governor's proclamation ; and Lyttelton is the only place in which the Court is appointed to be held. The inconvenience, however, to which our friends on the plains would be subjected by such an arrangement can be obviated by an adjournment to Chvistchurch for the hearing of such cases as it may be more generally convenient to all parties to have heard in that town. We understand that this practice will be adopted at future sittings of this Court, and that it would have been'resorted to on the present occasion, if it had been found practicable to complete in time the necessary preliminary arrangements. The days which at present have been fixed , upon for the ordinary sittings of the Court are the third Tuesdays in. February, Ma)', August and November. We are inclined to think that aninterval of three months between each session is rather longer than will be found desirable ;. and trust that this point will be reconsidered. As the additional duty connected with the measure now under consideration will be undertaken by the Resident Magistrate of Lyttelton, ifs cost to the province will be comparatively small,'and this-in times of anxiety for economy in our public expenditure, is not the least of its recommendations. That it will obviate the just complaints arising out of the delay and uncertainty that have hitherto attended the sittings of the Supreme Court in this province we do not pretend to say, but there is good reason for the hope that in many cases it will alleviate to a great extent the inconvenience to which these irregularities have given rise.