Studies in Civics | Page 8

that he has been unjustly dealt with.
Thus we see that the principal elements of the courts of today, the
establishment of justice as a public trust, the determination of the facts
by means of witnesses and a jury, the application of the law by one or
more judges, the right of appeal to a higher court, are not artificial, but
in the nature of things. We inherited them from our primitive ancestors,
and in that sense they may be said to have been imposed upon us. But
their naturalness appears in the fact that boys when left to themselves
introduce the same elements into their boy-courts.
CHANGES MADE IN COURSE OF TIME.
In the Jury System.--The jurors were originally, as has been said,
persons acquainted with the facts. After the Norman conquest, it came
about that the jury consisted of twelve persons disinterested and
unacquainted with the facts. Probably the change gradually came about
from the difficulty of getting twelve men eligible to the jury who knew
of the facts. Persons ineligible to the jury were then invited to give it
information, but not to join it in the verdict. The next step, taken about
1400 A.D., was to require these witnesses to give their evidence in
open court, subject to examination and cross-examination. The

testimony of the witnesses, however, was still merely supplementary.
Then in the time of Queen Anne, about 1707 A.D., it was decided that
any person who had knowledge of the facts of the case should appear as
a _witness_, that the jury should consist of persons unacquainted with
the facts, and that the verdict should be rendered in accordance with the
evidence. And so it is to this day, both in England and America.
[Footnote: The best history of the jury system is probably Forsyth's.]
"It is not true, however, that a man is disqualified from serving on a
jury simply because he has heard or read of the case, and has formed
and expressed some impression in regard to its merits; if it were, the
qualifications for jury service in cases that attract great attention would
be ignorance and stupidity. The test, therefore, is not whether the
juryman is entirely ignorant of the case, but whether he has formed
such an opinion as would be likely to prevent him from impartially
weighing the evidence and returning a verdict in accordance therewith."
[Footnote: Dole's Talks about Law, p. 59.]
In the Officers.--As has been said, there were in the old Saxon courts
no court officers. But quite early the necessity for such officers became
manifest. And several of the offices then established have come down
to us. Some of them, however, have been so modified in the progress of
time as to be hardly recognizable.

CHAPTER III
.
PROCEEDINGS IN A JUSTICE COURT.
I. IN ORDINARY CIVIL ACTIONS.
Definitions.--A Civil Action is one having for its object the protection
or enforcement of a private right or the securing of compensation for an
infraction thereof. For instance a suit brought to secure possession of a
horse, or to secure damages for a trespass is a civil action. The person
bringing the action is called the _plaintiff_; the one against whom it is
brought, the defendant. The plaintiff and the defendant are called the
parties to the action.
_Jurisdiction._--A justice of the peace has jurisdiction within the
county in most civil actions when the amount in controversy does not
exceed a certain sum, usually one hundred dollars. (See p. 296.)

PRELIMINARY TO TRIAL.
_Complaint and Summons._--In bringing a civil action, the plaintiff or
his agent appears before the justice of the peace and files a Complaint.
In this he states the cause of the action. The justice then issues a
Summons. This is an order to a sheriff or constable commanding him to
notify the defendant to appear before the justice at a certain time and
place to make answer to the plaintiff's demands. (Form on p. 277.)
Sometimes on bringing an action or during its progress a writ of
attachment is obtained. To secure this writ, the creditor must make
affidavit to the fact of the debt, and that the debtor is disposing or
preparing to dispose of his property with intent to defraud him, or that
the debtor is himself not reachable, because hiding or because of
non-residence. In addition, the creditor must give a bond for the costs
of the suit, and for any damages sustained by the defendant. The justice
then issues the writ, which commands the sheriff or constable to take
possession of and hold sufficient goods of the debtor and summon him
as defendant in the suit.
Another writ sometimes used is the writ of replevin. To secure this writ,
the plaintiff must make affidavit that the defendant is in wrongful