The Justice Court System

BY WILLEDD ANDREWS, LL.B., OF THE Los ANGELES BAR

HE ancient English statutes relat ing to justices of the peace in force

at the time of the settlement of this country,

were

adopted

as

a

part

the conservatorsI power was gradually enlarged and they came to constitute a very important agency in the admin istration of public affairs in England.

of our common law by the colo nists and the people of the original states. But the powers and duties of such officers have been so much enlarged that at present they derive their jurisdiction almost entirely from

headed judgment.

modern statutes.

with judicial powers for the first time,

In American law a justice of the peace is inga judicial a court oflicer not ofofrecord, inferiorand rank,having hold~

usually civil jurisdiction of a limited nature; he presides over trials of minor cases, to an extent prescribed by statute,

and for the conservation of the peace, the preliminary hearing of criminal com

Then at last they accepted the ideas of reforming the procedure for what it was: a task of preparation in legal thought — hard, cautious plans — prac

ticable only by mental labor and clear They were invested

by the statute of 34 Edward III which gave them power to try felonies,but only when two or more acted together, and

they then acquired the more honorable appellation of justices. According to Blackstone the statutes just cited directed them to be of the most suffi

as a judicial officer of special and limited

cient knights, esquires and gentlemen of the law. The qualifications above mentioned are more than we require

jurisdiction, both civil and criminal.

here in America.

When the history of the now famous justice court system begins, the schem

tions in the United States where farmers,

plaints, the commitment of offenders,

ing gentlemen in England were engaged

in local politics of the King Edward III type. The office of justice of the peace is one of great antiquity and the juris diction has varied from time to time, depending either upon the terms of each commission or particular statutes. Jus tices were originally mere conservators of the peace, exercising no judicial func tions. It is said that during the breath less stir of Edward III‘s reign, he passed the first statute that ordained the assign

There are jurisdic

mechanics and merchants hold court as justices of the peace. The absurdity of our system, however, will be discussed

further on. It does not appear that in England the justices ever exercised jurisdiction in civil causes. In the United States

they may be said technically to have, as a part of our common law, the power granted such officers by the early Eng lish statutes; yet their powers and duties

have been so enlarged and so fully de fined by the statutes of the various states

that they are in eflect wholly statutory.

ment of justice of the peace by the King's commission. At that time and age they could only gratify their sense of power

diction of justices in civil causes, which,

by keeping the peace. English skill in commercial life in creased and with the keen competition

of purely statutory origin, and at first confined within narrow limits, has now grown to immense proportions.

This is especially true as to the juris