LIABILITY OF MAGISTRATES.
A decision important to Justices of tho Peace was given in the Second Division of the Court of Session, Edinburgh, recently. The case was one in which" a . Wishaw Magistrate was sued for' -SIOO damages, in respect of a sentence described as "incompetent and grossly offensive." A woman had been charged on a complaint which provided for the option of a fine not exceeding forty shillings.; The Magistrate sent her to prison for fourteen days, without the option of a fine. He explained to the Court of Session that ho did so "in the belief" that the ; offence carried Imprisonment without any option. The Court has decreed that there can be no privilege for a Magistrate who exceeds his jurisdiction, and has remitted the question of compensation to some other Judge, Whatever the .other Judge may do in the matter, this decision will serve to remind Magistrates that it is unsafe to act on ,any "belief” as to the nature of an offence or their own powers in respect of penalties.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Times, 12 September 1907, Page 7
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174LIABILITY OF MAGISTRATES. New Zealand Times, 12 September 1907, Page 7
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