After seizure.—Property having been seized by the customs officers, its subsequent disposal must be in accordance with the provisions of the law. Sections 207, 208, and 209 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1879, may be selected as having a particular reference to the disposal of seizures. Their substance is as follows :— Notice to be given to owner; and seizures to be claimed within one month.---Whenever any seizure is made, unless in the possession or in the presence of the offender, master, or owner, the seizing officer must give notice in writing of such seizure and of the grounds thereof to the master or owner of the things seized, if known, either by delivering the same to him personally or by letter addressed to him and transmitted by post to or delivered at his last known place of abode or business, if known ; and all seizures made under the Customs Acts or under any Act by which customs officers are empowered to make seizures will be deemed and taken to be condemned, and may be sold or otherwise disposed of in such manner as the Commissioners of Customs may direct, unless the person from whom the seizure has been made, or the master or owner thereof, or some person authorised by him, shall, within one calendar month from the day of seizure, give notice in writing, if in London, to the person seizing the same, or to the secretary or solicitor for the customs, and if elsewhere to the person seizing the same, or to the collector or other chief officer of the customs at the nearest port, that he claims the things so seized or intends to claim them, whereupon proceedings must be taken for the forfeiture and condemnation thereof either by information in the High Court or before a justice of the peace ; but if any things so seized are of a perishable nature, or consist of horses or other animals, they may by direction of the Commissioners of Customs be sold, and the proceeds retained to abide the result of any claim that may legally be made in respect thereof. Seizures may be disposed of —All seizures whatsoever which have been made and condemned under the Customs Acts or any other Act by which seizures are authorised to be made by officers of customs are disposed of in such a manner as the Commissioners of Customs may direct. Seizures may be restored and punishments mitigated.—When any seizure has been made, or any tine or penalty incurred or inflicted, or any person committed to prison for any offence under the Customs Acts, the Treasury or Customs may direct the restoration of the seizure, whether condemnation has taken place or not, or waive proceedings, or mitigate or remit the fine or penalty, or release from confinement either before or after conviction such person on any terms and conditions they see fit.
See IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION.
legal profession in England is, for all practical pur poses, divided into two classes—barristers and solicitors. The latter class, more properly designated as " Solicitors of the Supreme Count of Judicature in England," is the one with which the general public come directly into contact. They are officers of the Supreme Court, and as such have prac tically a monopoly of the right to act as agents for litigants—to prosecute and defend actions on behalf of the parties. They have also a practical monopoly in conveyancing business, i.e. in investigating titles and drawing deeds on behalf of others, in connection with real property ; to them the public always go, in the first place, for general advice and assistance in legal matters ; and in some cases, as in the attestation of absolute BILLS OF SALE, they are absolutely the only persons entitled to act. As a profession they are represented by the INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY (q.v.).
Entry to the person becomes a solicitor upon his being admitted as such by the Master of the Rolls. He is then placed on the roll of solicitors. Before he can lawfully practise his profession, however, he must take out a certificate, renewable annually, on which he pays a stamp duty of .23 during each of the first three years, and afterwards 1'6 for every year ; London solicitors pay a higher duty than this, viz., .24, 10s. and £'9 respec tively. Though, as a matter of fact, a person becomes a solicitor merely by admission to the roll, yet it would seem, in face of the efFect of the statutes relating to unqualified practitioners, that he cannot lawfully describe himself as a solicitor, for any practical purpose, unless he has duly taken out a cer tificate and it is actually in force for the time being. An intending solicitor must first be apprenticed, or " articled," to a practising solicitor, unless he has been a barrister of certain standing and has been disbarred for the pur pose of being admitted as a solicitor ; he must also pass the prescribed examinations. The requisite term for service under "articles of clerkship" is, as a rule, five years, and during this period the articled clerk must devote himself exclusively to the service, as a law clerk, of his principal, except that, with the consent of the latter, he may read for a limited period in the chambers of a barrister. In some exceptional cases the authorities may permit an articled clerk to retain, durine. his articles, a limited interest in some other occupation. The sthmp duty on the articles of clerkship amounts
to 280. Where the clerk has passed some specified examination, such as the London matriculation in the first division, it will be sufficient if he serves a clerkship of only four years ; and where he has formerly been a bona fide solicitor's clerk for ten years, or holds a recognised university degree, a term of three years will be sufficient. The examinations are ordinarily three in number. The "preliminary," which is passed before the articles are entered into ; the " intermediate," which may be taken half-way through the period of the articles ; and the " final," which may be taken just before the termination of the service or sometime after. The pre liminary need not be passed by a person who has already passed certain recognised examinations ; and certain graduates are also exempt from the intermediate. An additional " honours " examination is held after the final, at which the clerk may qualify for valuable prizes, but this examination is optional. Having duly served his term of articles and passed the necessary examinations, the clerk is entitled to be admitted to the roll. For admission he pays a stamp duty of 225 and a fee of .25 to the Law Society—a society which, until the grant of a recent charter, was always known as the Incor porated Law Society. The total of these fees is thus S110, but in addition thereto, the clerk pays certain other small registration fees, and about .25 for examinations, and a premium to his principal which may amount to as much as 13400. Full information on this subject will be found in the handbook of the Law Society, published at their office in Chancery Lane, W.C., and from which we extract the following summary of the law relating to— Unqualified practitioners, or persons who represent themselves to be solicitors, or transact business in the names of solicitors without authority. The provisions against offences of this kind are numerous and stringent. The Solicitors Act, 1843, prohibits a person not duly qualified from acting in any way as a solicitor in court, either in his own name or in the name of any other person. Such person cannot recover any fee or reward for anything so done, and, in addition to other penalties, renders himself liable for each offence to a penalty of £50, to be recovered by and at the instance of the Law Society with the sanction of the Attorney-General ; and any solicitor who allows his name to be made use of in any action or suit upon the account or for the profit of an unqualified person, or who does any act whereby an unqualified person is enabled to practise as a solicitor in any suit, shall and may, upon proof thereof, be struck off the Roll and for ever after disabled from practising, and the unqualified person may be imprisoned for any period not exceeding one year. Any person who wilfully and falsely pretends to be a solicitor, or uses any description implying that he is duly qualified to act as such, renders himself liable to a penalty not exceeding £10 for each offence. With some exceptions, a person is deemed not to be duly qualified under this provision unless he has at the time a stamped certificate entitling him to practise, and an unqualified person acting as a solicitor cannot recover any costs or disbursements. Any surrogate or other person not being a barrister-at-law, certificated solicitor, proctor, notary public, certificated con veyancer, special pleader, or draughtsman in equity, who for or in expectation of gain or reward, either directly or as the agent for another person, takes instruc tions for or prepares any papers on which to found or oppose a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, is guilty of an offence within the foregoing pro vision, and may be prosecuted accordingly. The Stamp Act, 1891, renders an unqualified person who acts or practises as a solicitor in any court or as a notary public liable to a penalty of £50. A similar penalty is imposed on every person who, not being a barrister, or a duly certificated solicitor, notary public, con veyancer, special pleader, or draughtsman in equity, for or in expectation of any fee, gain, or reward, draws or prepares any instrument relating to real or personal estate or any proceedings in law or equity. " Instrument " in this provision does, not include a will or other testamentary instrument, an agreement under hand, a power of attorney, or transfer of stock containing no trust or limitation thereof. The Land Transfer Act, 1897, also provides that every person who (not being a barrister or a duly certificated solicitor, notary public, conveyancer, special pleader, or draughtsman in equity) either directly or indirectly, for or in expectation of any fee, gain, or reward, draws or prepares any instrument of transfer or charge or an application to register restrictive conditions or to alter or discharge, or alter the priority of a registered charge or any other prescribed instrument, shall incur a fine not exceeding X50, recoverable before a court of summary jurisdiction. An annual certificate to practise is granted by the Law Society, and may be withheld in the case of a bankrupt.