JUSTICES OF TliE PEACE are persons appointed by the king's special commission, under the great seal, to keep the peace within certain limits.
The nature and extent of the office, powers, and duties of a justice of the peace are determined by the commis sion, and by several statutes which have created objects of his jurisdiction. To attempt it detail of these various ob jects would lead us into a wide field of discussion. Our limits will only admit of our making a few general obser vations.
In England, every person who acts as a justice of the peace must have a certain qualification ; but in Scotland. no such qualification appears to be requisite. The insti tution of justices of the peace in Scotland is of compara tively modern date. Its introduction was attended with considerable difficulty, and the office was for some time ex ercised under several restrictions. But these restrictions were removed by the articles of union, which placed the office on the same footing in Scotland as in the sister king dom. But, in the Scotch commission, there is not a custos
rotuloru in, as in England ; and the distinction of the quorum has never been introduced in Scotland.
The jurisdiction of the justices extends to the preser vation of the peace ; to the cognizance of certain ft Ionics and delinquencies; to the execution of various penal sta tutes, particularly regarding rural economy ; to a numer ous and important class of questions relating to the reve nue ; and to certain civil actions committed to them by the small-debt act.
A commission of the peace may he recalled at any time by the king ; and it falls by the death of his majesty, al though, from expediency, it is continued for six months longer, unless recalled by his successor. See Lambard's Lirenarcha ; and Burns', William's, Hutcheson's, and Tait's works on the office of a justice of the peace.