§ MR. JORDAN (Fermanagh, S.)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland if his attention has been called to the fact that a resident magistrate, sitting alone, at Lisbellaw, county Fermanagh, on 31st May, out of petty sessions, heard and determined a case of assault; and, if so, will he state under which Statute this resident magistrate acted; and whether, seeing that in the ordinary course such a case would require not less than two justices to decide, he proposes to take any, and, if so, what action in the matter.
§ THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.In this case I think the resident magistrate intended merely to hold one of the parties to bail, which he would have had power to do out of petty sessions. But having examined the order he made, I think it amounts to an adjudication on the charge preferred. This was outside his jurisdiction. The order was therefore illegal and will not be enforced.