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Cite as: [1763] 5 Brn 893
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[1763] 5 Brn 893
Subject_1 DECISIONS of the LORDS OF COUNCIL AND SESSION. Collected By JAMES BURNETT, LORD MONBODDO.
Date: -
v.
-
9 March 1763 Click here to view a pdf copy of this documet : PDF Copy
In this ease the Lords found, by one vote, that the Justices of Peace were not competent judges to any civil action upon a contract, notwithstanding the constant
practice to the contrary in every shire in Scotland; because their jurisdiction is limited by the statute which gives them being, no earlier than the days of Charles II., and no jurisdiction can be acquired by prescription: there is nothing can give it but immemorial use, to such judges of whom we do not know the origin, as sheriffs, barons, commissaries; because such use, with respect to them, presumes that the jurisdiction was originally annexed to the office.
The electronic version of the text was provided by the Scottish Council of Law Reporting