There are provisions for parties having their case tried by jury, and also for appeal on questions of law. Either party who wishes it. may ask or a jury; and if the sum claimed exceed £5, the demand must be complied with. If there be a jury, the number of jurymen is five, and their verdict must be unanimous. The party dissatisfied with the verdict may ask for a new trial, and the judge, if he thinks right, may grant it on such terms as he thinks reasonable. This power to try by jury is used very rarely indeed—less than one per cent of all the eases which go to trial being tried in that man ner. The right to appeal is against decisions in point of law, and against the admission and rejection of evidence. The appeal is to the superior courts of law at Westminster. It is taken by requiring. the judge to state a case for the opinion of the higher court, and thereafter entering it for discussion there. The appellant must give security for the costs of the appeal, and (if defendant) for the amount (both of principal and costs) contained in the judgment. The right of appeal is not much exercised, and the parties have it in their power to agree beforehand (in writing) that there is to be none.
When judgment is for the creditor, and the order for payment is not complied with, execution may issue against the goods of the debtor. Although imprisonment for debt was (in the general case) abolished in England in 1869, it still remains the law that In the county courts, in certain cases, the debtor may also be imprisoned. The debtor is summoned to show cause why he has not obeyed the judgment. At this hearing (whether the debtor attend or not), the creditor may'get an order to commit, if he can show to the judge's satisfaction that the debtor obtained credit on false pretences, or by fraud, or that lie willfully incurred the debt without a reasonable expectation of being able to pay it, or if he have made away with or concealed any of his property to defraud his creditors, or if he has had, since the judgment, sufficient means to pay it without defrauding other creditors, and has refused to do so. Imprisonment for debt is no longer in the option of the creditor, as it was before 1869; the power is reposed in the discretion of a judge, and can be exercised only on proof that the defaulter has the means, and refuses to pay.
Although it is competent to proceed in the county courts for sums as large as £50, they are not much used for sums above £20. When the debt does not exceed £20, there is a certain compulsitor on the creditor to resort to the county court, for if he resort to a superior court,•and recover no more than that sum, he will have no costs; unless he satisfies the court that he had sufficient reason for taking that course. In point of fact, there is only about one case for a sum exceeding £20, for a hundred which do not exceed it; and the average amount sited for is between £2 and £3.
In Scotland, debts not exceeding £12 may he recovered in the sheriff small-debt court. The creditor takes two copies of his account to the office- of the sheriff-clerk for the circuit in which the debtor lives; from him he obtains a summons, in which the day for the trial is fixed; and this summons he takes to an officer of the court (sheriff officer), who serves a notice, with one of the copies of the account, on the debtor, at least six days before the trial. Both parties may employ an officer to cite such witnesses as they require. The creditor must appear at the trial, either by himself or by one of his family, or by such other person as the sheriff may permit. Law-agents require
special permission to appear, unless where both parties consent. If the defender intend to plead a counter-claim, he must cause a sheriff-officer to give a copy of it to the pursuer, at least one free day before the trial; otherwise, there are no written pleadings. On the day fixed for the trial, if the debtor does not appear, decree is given against him, with expenses, as a matter of course; against which he can afterwards be " reponed" only on consignment of the expenses and a sum of 108. If both parties appear, the judge hears the case. If the pursuer or the defender have clearly no good ground of action or defense, he disposes of it at once; but if not, he examines the witnesses on oath. No record of the evidence is taken. At any time before judgment, the case may be remitted to the " ordinary court" of the sheriff, where it is conducted by agents on written pleadings and written proof. Otherwise, the whole proceedings are concluded in one day, adjournments not being permitted, except in special cases. After judgment, there is no appeal, except on the ground of want of jurisdiction, malice, oppression, or willful neglect of the statutory forms, in which cases there is an appeal to the court of justiciary. If the sum decerned for, together with the expenses, do not exceed £8 6s. 8d., there is only execution against the debtor's goods; above that amount, there is also execution against the person.
The Debts Recovery Act, 1867 (30 and 31 Vict. c, 96), has extended the Scottish small-debt jurisdiction, with important alterations, to £50. The class, of debts that may be sued for between £12 and £50, has been limited to those which most require summary proceedings—namely, those which prescribe if not sued for within 3 years, such as all ordinary merchants' accounts, and accounts for professional services or for servants' wages. The principal differences between this and the proper small-debt proceedings are, that agents arc allowed to appear; that there are two days in court, one at which the grounds of action and defense are stated, and an adjourned one, at which the witnesses are examined; that the judge makes a note of the pleas of the parties; that a record is kept (if required) of the admissions in fact and of the evidence; and that there is a right of appeal, if the debt does not exceed £25, from the sheriff substitute to the sheriff, and if it exceed £25, also to the court of session. If the judge be not asked to take a note of the evidence, there is no appeal in matters of fact. All, the fees and costs, whether payable to the sheriff-clerk, the officers of the.court, or the law-agents, are distinctly stated in the act, and must be hung up in every court. In, other respects, the proceedings are analogous to those in the small-debt court, and, like them, may proceed either at the principal town. of the county, or at one of the towns at which sheriff's cirenit-courts are held.
In England and in Scotland, there are other courts which deal with the recovery of debts besides the county courts. The sheriff's court of the city of London has a juris diction similar in general to that of the English county courts; and there are local courts, such as the court of passage at Liverpool, and the manor court at Bradford, which exercise jurisdiction in small as well as other debts. In Scotland, the magistrates of royal burghs, and the justices of peace, possess a small-debt jurisdiction for debts not exceeding £5 in - amount. The procedure in them is similar to that of the sheriff small-debt court.