Description
Book SynopsisUntil the late nineteenth-century, the most common form of local government in rural England and the British Empire was administration by amateur justices of the peace: the sessions system. Petty Justice uses an unusually well-documented example of the colonial sessions system in Loyalist New Brunswick to examine the role of justices of the peace and other front-line low law officials like customs officers and deputy land surveyors in colonial local government.
Using the rich archival resources of Charlotte County, Paul Craven discusses issues such as the impact of commercial rivalries on local administration, the role of low law officials in resolving civil and criminal disputes and keeping the peace, their management of public works, social welfare, and liquor regulation, and the efforts of grand juries, high court judges, colonial governors, and elected governments to supervise them. A concluding chapter explains the demise of the sessions system in Charlotte Count
Trade Review
'Craven's book is a compendious analysis of archival material that reveals the day-to-day workings of the magistracy system in Charlotte County... It is heartening to see excellent research bringing important questions into the spotlight.' -- Lyndsay Campbell Acadiensis vol 44:02:2015 'Craven has effectively made accessible a wealth of knowledge and a unique glimpse of Canada's Legal history.' -- Alex E. Hughes American Review of Canadian Studies vol 46:01:2016
Table of Contents
1. High Law, Low Law, No Law I. Petty Justices 2. The Trials of David Owen 3. High Noon at Campobello 4. The Empire Strikes Back II. Doing Substantial Justice 5. In the Woods 6. "Unconnected with Mercantile Pursuits" 7. Hatheway's Civil Docket 1847-67 8. Hatheway's Crown Docket, 1847-67 III. The Sessions System and Its Enemies 9. Called to Account 10. Three Ships 11. The Temperance Magistrates 12. The Sessions System in Decline Appendices Reference Tables Sources Statutes Index Bibliography Index of Names Index of Places Topical Index
