Justices Qualification Act 1744
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1744 c. 20 |
(18 Geo. 2) C A P. XX.
'WHEREAS by many Acts of Parliament of late Years made, the Power and Authority of Justices of the Peace is greatly increased, whereby it is become of the utmost Consequence to the Commonweal to provide against Persons of mean Estate acting as such: And whereas the Laws now in Force are not sufficient for that Purpose;' 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 Parliamentassembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the twenty-fifth Day ofMarch , which shall be in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-six, no Person shall be capable of being a Justice of the Peace, or of acting as such for any County, Riding or Division, within that Part of Great Britain called England , or the Principality of Wales , who shall not have either in Law or Equity, to and for his own Use and Benefit, in Possession, a Freehold, Copyhold or Customary Estate for Life, or for some greater Estate, or an Estate for some long Term of Years, determinable upon one or more Life or Lives, or for a certain Term originally created for twenty-one Years or more in Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments, lying or being in that Part of Great Britain called England , or the Principality of Wales , of the clear yearly Value of one hundred Pounds, over and above what will satisfy and discharge all Incumbrances that affect the same, and over and above all Rents and Charges payable out of, or in respect of the same; or who shall not be seized of or intitled unto, in Lawor Equity, to and for his own Use and Benefit, the immediate Reversion or Remainder of and in Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments, lying or being as aforesaid, which are leased for one, two or three Lives, or for any Term of Years, determinable upon the Death of one, two or three Lives, upon reserved Rents, and which are of the clear yearly Value of three hundred Pounds; and who shall not, before the said twenty-fifth Day ofMarch , or before he takes upon himself to act as a Justice of Peace, after the said twenty-fifth Day of March , at some General or Quarter-Sessions for the County, Riding or Division for which he does or shall intend to act, first take and subscribe the Oath following, videlicet ,
'IA. B. do swear, That I truly and bona fide have such an Estate, in Law or Equity, to and for my own Use and Benefit, consisting of (specifying the Nature of such Estate whether Messuage, Land, Rent, Tythe, Office, Benefice or what else ) as doth qualify me to act as a Justice of the Peace for the County, Riding or Division, of according to the true Intent and Meaning of an Act of Parliament, made in the eighteenth Year of the Reign of his Majesty King George the Second, intituled, An Act to amend and render more effectual an Act passed in the fifth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, intituled , An Act for the further Qualification of Justices of the Peace; and that the same (except where it consists of an Office, Benefice or Ecclesiastical Preferment, which it shall be sufficient to ascertain by their known and usual Names) is lying or being, or issuing out of Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments, being within the Parish, Township or Precinct of or in the several Parishes, Townships or Precincts of in the County of or in the several Counties of (as the Case may be)
Which Oath so taken and subscribed as aforesaid, shall be kept by the Clerk of the Peace of the said County, Riding or Division for the Time being, among the Records of the Sessions for the said County, Riding or Division.
II Copy of Oath to be given for 2 s.
II. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That every such Clerk of the Peace shall, upon Demand for that Purpose made, forthwith deliver a true and attested Copy of the said Oath in Writing, to any Person, paying for the same the Sum of two Shillings and no more; which being proved to be a true Copy of such Oath, to be kept amongst the Records as aforesaid, shall be admitted to be given in Evidenceupon any Issue in any Action, Suit or Information, to be brought upon this Act.
III Penalty of 100 l. on any Person acting unqualified.
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the...
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