§ The Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, shall have effect as if for Section thirty-one of that Act (which relates to procedure on appeal to general or quarter sessions) there were substituted the following section:
§ 31.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where a person is authorised by or under any Act, including any local Act, to appeal to a court of general or quarter sessions against a conviction, sentence, order, determination or other decision of a court of summary jurisdiction, the following provisions shall apply:
- (i) the appeal shall be made to a court of quarter sessions having jurisdiction in the county, borough or place for which the court of summary jurisdiction acted;
- (ii) the appellant shall, within fourteen days after the day on which the decision of the court of summary jurisdiction was given, give to the clerk to that court and to the other party notice in writing of his appeal, stating the general grounds of his appeal, and signed by him or by his agent on his behalf;
- (iii) the appellant shall, after giving notice of appeal to the clerk to the court of summary jurisdiction and within twenty-one days after the day on which the decision of the court was given, enter into recognisance with or without sureties as that court, or any other court of summary jurisdiction acting for the same petty sessional division or place, may have directed, and in such reasonable sum as, having regard to the purpose of the recognisance and to his means, they may have thought necessary to fix, conditioned to prosecute his appeal with diligence, or, with the consent of the court, he may, as respects the whole or any part of the sum so fixed, give such other security, by deposit of money with the clerk to the court, or otherwise, as the court deem sufficient.
- (iv) where the appellant is in custody, the court who fix the recognisance to be entered into, or the other security to be given, under the preceding paragraph, or any other court of summary jurisdiction acting for the same petty sessional division or place, may, if they think fit, release him from custody on his complying with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if he has not already done so, and on his either entering into a recognisance, with or without sureties, and in such reasonable sum as they think necessary to fix, conditioned to appear at the hearing of the appeal, or giving with their consent other security for his appearance;
- (v) recognisances for the purposes of paragraphs (iii) and (iv) of this subsection may, if it be convenient, be combined in one recognisance;
- (vi) quarter sessions may from time to time adjourn the hearing of any appeal;
- (vii) quarter sessions may by their order confirm, reverse or vary the decision of the court of summary jurisdiction, or may remit the matter with their opinion thereon to a court of summary jurisdiction acting for the same petty sessional division or place as the court by whom the decision appealed against was given, or may make such other order in the matter as they think just, and by such order exercise any power which the court of summary jurisdiction might have exercised; and any order made by quarter sessions shall have the like effect and may be enforced in the like manner as if it had been made by the court of summary jurisdiction. Quarter sessions may also make such order as to costs to be paid by either party as they think just;
- (viii) on an appeal against a conviction or a sentence, the powers of quarter sessions under the preceding paragraph shall be construed as including power to award any punishment, whether more or less severe than that awarded by the court of summary jurisdiction, which that court might have awarded;
- (ix) the clerk of the peace shall send to the clerk to the court by whom the decision appealed against was given, for entry in his register, a memorandum of the decision of quarter sessions, and if the appeal was an appeal against a conviction or sentence or against an order, shall endorse, a like memorandum on the conviction of order, as the case may be, and whenever any copy or certificate of the conviction or order is made, a copy of the memorandum shall be added thereto and shall be sufficient evidence of the decision of quarter sessions in every case where the copy or certificate would be sufficient evidence of the conviction or order;
- (x) a notice of appeal under paragraph (ii) of this subsettion may be transmitted to the person to whom it is to be given in a registered letter addressed to that person at his last or usual place of abode and, if so transmitted, shall be deemed to have been given at the time when it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.
§ (2) Nothing in the preceding subsection shall apply to, or affect the procedure on, appeals under sections three hundred and one to three hundred and thirteen of the Lunacy Act, 1890, or under section ninety-seven of the Poor Law Act, 1930.
§ 6.44 p.m.
§ Mr. TURTONI beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."
I think I had better explain the purport of the Amendment. It is of rather an alarming nature as it extends to some three pages, but its effect is to co-ordinate the Amendments to Section 31 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act. In the Committee we amended it paragraph by paragraph, by the most obnoxious form of legislation, that is legislation by reference, but the House of Lords deemed it wise to amend it in the form of one Amendment. There is one part of this new Clause to which I wish to draw attention, and that is that an Amendment has been moved in another place to amend the existing law with regard to the power of the court of quarter sessions to increase the punishment in any appeal against sentence or conviction. I commend this Amendment made in another place, and I feel sure that the House will agree with it. On Second Reading my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Norwood (Sir W. Greaves Lord) and the hon. Member for East Leicester (Mr. Lyons) pronounced this to be the law at that time. Further research made one doubt the validity of 1749 that statement, and the House of Lords has made the matter quite clear and have given this extra power in the Bill. There is one advantage in this Amendment. It was objected against the Bill in the previous stages that it would let loose a flood of frivolous appeals. This new provision put in by the House of Lords will provide a dam against that flood.
§ Major LLEWELLINI beg to second the Motion.
§ Subsequent Lords Amendments to page 8, line 17, agreed to.