PETTY SESSIONS is the court constituted by two or more justices of the peace in England when sitting in the administration of their ordinary jurisdiction. Though for ninny purposes statutes enable one justice to do acts auxiliary to the hearing and adjudi cation of a matter, yet the jurisdiction to adjudicate is generally conferred upon the justices in petty sessions, in which case there must be at least two justices present, and this is called a petty sessions, as distinguished from quarter sessions, which generally may entertain an appeal from petty sessions. For the purpose of securing always suffi cient justices, the whole of the counties of England are subdivided into what ire called petty sessional divisions, those justices who live in the immediate1 it ne.g.i.mr.moc the members who form the court of such division. This subdivision of counties is con firmed by statute, and the justices at quarter sessions have power from time to time to alter it. Each petty sessions is held in some town or village which gives it a name. and
a police-court or place is appropriated for the purpose of the sittings of the court. There is a clerk of each petty sessions, usually a local attorney, who advises the justices and issues the summons and receives the fees made payable for steps of the process. The justices in petty sessions have a multifarious jurisdiction, which they exercise chiefly by imposing penalties authorized by various acts of parliament, as penalties against poarl:ers, vagrants, absconding workmen and apprentices, etc. They also have jurisdiction to Ileac charges for all indictable offenses, to take depositions of witnesses, and, if they think a case of suspicion is made out, to commit the party for trial at the quarter ses sions or assizes, and to bind over the witnesses to attend. See also JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.