§ MR. P. O'BRIEN (Monaghan, N.)asked Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Whether he is aware that a man, named Philip Quigley, was committed for contempt of Court, for refusal to sign a document, by the County Court Judge of Monaghan, on the 23rd of May last, to Dundalk Gaol, and is still confined there; whether a County Court Judge has power to commit for contempt of Court for a longer terra than a fortnight; 1796 and, if so, what is the maximum term; and, whether he will inquire into the circumstances of Quigley's committal?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL for IRELAND (Mr. GIBSON) (Liverpool, Walton), in reply, said, that Quigley had been committed on the 25th, not the 23rd of May, under an order made by the County Court Judge in the exercise of the equitable jurisdiction vested in him under 40 & 41 Vict. c. 50, which gives him the powers of the Court of Chancery with regard to contempt. Quigley contumaciously refused to sign an assignment, and had not yet purged his contempt.
§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)How long can this man be kept in?
§ MR. GIBSONThe ordinary rule is, in cases of contempt, that a man shall remain in custody until he has purged his contempt. He has been ordered to sign a deed by the Court, and when he does this he will be discharged.