Justices of the Peace Small Debt (Scotland) Act 1825
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1825 c. 48 |
| Year | 1825 |
(6 Geo. 4) C A P. XLVIII.
[22d June 1825]
'WHEREAS the Regulations introduced by the Act made in the Thirty ninth and Fortieth Years of his late Majesty, intituled An Act for the more easy and expeditious Recover of Small Debts, and determining small Causes, in that Part ofGreat Britaincalled Scotland, have been found useful and beneficial to the Public; and it is expedient that the said Act should be altered and amended, and that certain other and further Regulations which Experience has suggested for the Improvement thereof should be introduced:' May it therefore please Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it 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the same, That from and after the First Day of January next the said last mentioned Actshall be and the same is hereby repealed, except as to such Causes and Complaintsas may be brought under the Authority of the said last mentioned Act before the said First Day ofJanuary next, and then depending; all which Causes and Complaints shall be carried on to a Conclusion, according to the Rules prescribed by the said last mentioned Act, notwithstanding this Act.
II Justices to hear and determine Causes on Plaints not exceeding 5 l.
II. And be it enacted, That from and after the First Day ofJanuary next (which is hereby declared to be the Commencement of this Act), it shall be lawful and competent for any Two (a) or more of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland , within their respective Counties or Stewartries, to hear, try and determine, as shall appear to them agreeable to Equity and good Conscience, all Causes and Complaints brought before them concerning the Recovery of Debts, or the making effectual any Demand, and that in a summary Way, as more particularly hereinafter mentioned: Provided always, that the Debt or Demand shall not exceed the Value of Five Pounds Sterling, exclusive of Expences.
III Causes to proceed as in Schedule \(A.) described.
III. And be it enacted, That all such Causes shall proceed upon Complaint agreeable to the Form in Schedule (A.) subjoined to the present Act, stating shortly the Origin of Debt or ground of Action,
(a ) [See as to One Justice acting, ∥ 16. post. ]
and concluding against the Defender; and the Clerk of the Peace or any Deputy by him appointed, or, in case he shall fail to appoint One, the Clerk to be appointed within the District, as hereinafter provided, shall adject to the said Complaint, and on the same Paper, a Warrant signed by him, agreeable to the Form in Schedule (A.) subjoined to the present Act; which Warrantshall contain an Authority to any Constable or Peace officer for summoning the Defender to appear and answer at the next Meeting of the Justices of the Peace in the District of the County or Stewartry where the Defender resides, or, where the Meetings of the Courts are held Weekly, then in the Option of the Pursuer, at the Second or Third Diet of Court from the Date of the Warrant, the said Diet of Court not being sooner, in either Case, than upon the Sixth Day after the Date of the Citation, and also for summoning Witnesses, at the Instance of either Party, to the same Day and Place: Provided always, that a Copy of the said Complaint and Warrant, with the Citation annexed, agreeable to the said Schedule (A.) subjoined to this Act, and also a Copy of the Account, Document of Debt, or State of the Demand, shall be delivered by a Constable or Peace Officer to the Defender personally, or left at his Dwelling Place; in which latter Case, if the Defender shall not appear at the Diet of Court to which he has been cited, he shall be cited a Second Time personally, or at his Dwelling House or Place of Abode, upon the Wordsde novo being either subjoined to the original Complaint, and signed by any One Justice of the Peace, or written in the Procedure Book kept by the Clerk, and signed by the Justices or the Preses, to appear either at the next stated Meeting, or at a Meeting to be held by Adjournment for that Purpose, and fixed by the Justices at the First Diet, but which Second Meeting shall not be sooner than Three Days from the Date of the First, with Certification that if he shall fail to appear at the Diet of Court to which he is summoned by this Second Citation, he will be held as confessing the Debt or Justice of the Demand: Provided, that if the Defender has been cited for the first Time to a Diet of Court, not sooner than Twelve free Days from the Date of the Citation, it shall be lawful for the Constable or Peace Officer, in case the Defendant shall not have been personally found at the Time of the First Citation, to cite him a Second Time, either personally or at his Dwelling Place, to the same Diet of Court, on the Authority of the original Warrant, and without previously reporting an Execution of the First Citation of the Court, but always under this Condition and Limitation, that such Second Citation shall not be given sooner than upon the Sixth Day after the Date of the First Citation, nor later than upon the Sixth before the Diet of Court to which the Defender is so cited for the Second Time; and in case the Defender shall not appear at the Diet to which he is so cited for the Second Time upon the same Warrant, he shall be held as confessed in the same Manner as if he had been cited personally, or cited at his Dwelling Place upon a Warrantde novo; and the Constable or Peace Officer shall in all Cases return an Execution of Citation signed by him, or shall appear and give Evidence upon Oath of his having duly cited the Defender in Manner aforesaidIV Constable, &c. to cite Witnesses, and to lodge a Copy of Citation in Clerk's Hands.
IV. And be it enacted, That where a Constable or other Peace Officer shall be required by any Party, whether Pursuer or Defender, to cite any Persons as Witnesses, he shall be obliged to lodge a written Execution of every such Citation in the Clerk's Hands, at or before the Diet of Court to which the Defender has been summoned, or otherwise to verify in Court the Execution of Citation, as the Justices, may see fit; and if the Witnesses cited, either upon the one Part or the other, do not appear at the Time and Place to which they are cited, it shall be competent to the Party or Partiesto apply for a new Warrant to compel their Attendance at the next stated or adjourned Meeting, which Warrant may require them to attend in order to give Evidence, under a Penaltynot exceeding Twenty Shillings Sterling, to be awarded by the Justices of the Peace in case of their not appearing, unless a reasonable Excuse be offered and sustained, which Penalty shall be payable to the Party at whose Instance the Witness was cited, and may be recovered by him in the same Form and Manner as herein directed with regard to other small Debts; or in the Option of the Justices, the Witness so failing to appear after a Second Citation, and not sending a reasonable Excuse which shall be sustained by the Justices, may be imprisoned for a certain Time in the County Prison, not exceeding Ten Days: Provided, that the aforesaid Penalty shall not be awarded or recoverable, or the Witness be liable to the said Imprisonment, unless the Second Citation shall have been given not later than the Sixth Day before the Diet of Court to which he has been cited.
V Justices to hear parties viv voce.
V. And be it enacted, That when the Parties shall appear, the said Justices shall hear themviv voce , and examine Witnesses upon Oath, and also the Parties by Declaration or upon Oath: Provided always, that no Procurator, Solicitor or any Person practising the Law, shall be allowed to appear or plead for them, either viv voce , or by Writing, nor shall any of the Pleadings, Arguments, Minutes or Evidencebe taken down in Writing, or entered on any Record.
VI Defender not appearing, to be held as confessing the Debt.
VI. And be it enacted, That if a Defender who has been duly cited, whether personally, or by Two Citations left at his Dwelling House or Place of Abode, shall not appear in Court, either by himself or by One of his Family, or other Person, not being in any Case a legal Practitioner or Officer of Court, whom the Justices shall see reason in the Circumstances of the Case to hear on his Behalf in the Matter of the Complaint, he shall be held as confessing the Debt or Justice of the Demand, unless he shall by One of his Family send an Excuse which shall satisfy the Justicesthat a Delay ought to be granted; in which latter Case, or if the Absence of Witnesses, or any other good reason assigned, shall move the Justices to adjourn the Cause to the next stated Meeting, or other Day to be specially appointed, it shall be competent for them to make such Adjournment, and the Parties and Witnesses shall be ordered then to attend.
VII Pursuer may be heard by One of his Family;
VII. Provided farther, and be it enacted, That it shall be competent for the Justices, if they shall see reason in the Circumstances of the Case for so doing, to allow a Pursuer or Defender to be heard in the Matter of his Complaint or Defence by One of his Family; or if the Pursuer shall not be resident nearer than Twenty Miles from the Placewhere the Court is held, it shall be...
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