COURTS 



1615 COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH 



no special circuit judges, court being held by the 

 Supreme Court Justice assigned to a circuit, but 

 later special circuit judges were appointed to re- 

 lieve the members of the Supreme Court of some 

 of their Increasing burdens. In part the circuit 

 judges and district judges had concurrent juris- 

 diction that is, either court might try certain 

 cases. This duplication was eliminated in 1911, 

 when the character of the circuit courts was 

 changed. Their original jurisdiction is now vest- 

 ed in the district courts, and the circuit courts 

 are now only courts of appeal. The functions and 

 organization of these courts, as well as of certain 

 special courts, is indicated in the preceding table. 



State Judicial Systems. The judicial ma- 

 chinery of a state is based on the Federal sys- 

 tem, with only slight differences in practice, 

 but confined in its operations strictly to the 

 territorial limits of the state. The highest 

 judicial tribunal is usually the supreme court, 

 though a few states have a higher appellate 

 court or an appellate branch of the supreme 

 court. Each county has its county court, or 

 circuit court; a state judicial circuit may com- 

 prise a single county or a number of counties; 

 one circuit judge presides over an entire cir- 

 cuit. The county or circuit court has appel- 

 late jurisdiction over cases arising in the justice 

 courts, and original jurisdiction in all civil and 

 criminal cases arising under state laws. 



Below the county courts are the judicial 

 tribunals of the township, the justice courts 

 presided over by a justice of the peace, and 

 the municipal courts in cities. Jurisdiction of 

 these lowest courts is usually limited to civil 

 cases where only small amounts are involved, 

 but in some states it includes examinations of 

 persons accused of crime to determine whether 

 the accused shall be held for trial to the county 

 court. In such cases this justice court pro- 

 cedure takes the place of what in other states 

 falls to the duty of the grand jury. In a few 

 states the justice of the peace may bind accused 

 persons over to the grand jury. For details 

 of the judicial system see subtitle Government, 

 under each state. 



Canadian Courts. In Canada, as in the 

 United States, there are two classes of courts 

 Federal and local (provincial). The Federal 

 courts are the Supreme Court of the Dominion, 

 which sits at Ottawa, and the Exchequer Court ; 

 the members of both are appointed by the 

 Governor-General in Council. The Dominion 

 government also appoints and pays the sal- 

 aries of all provincial judges except the local 

 police magistrates and justices of the peace, 

 who are appointed by the lieutenant-governor 

 in council in each province. The provincial 



government, moreover, determines the organi- 

 zation and procedure of provincial courts. The 

 jurisdiction of the latter including the pro- 

 vincial supreme courts, the county courts, etc. 

 is similar to that of the corresponding courts 

 in the United States. For further details, see 

 CANADA, subtitle Government; also subhead 

 Government under each province. 



Courts in Great Britain. In Great Britain 

 the functions of a highest court are divided 

 between two bodies, the House of Lords and 

 the judicial committee of the Privy Council. 

 The House of Lords is the supreme appellate 

 court of the kingdom, except for cases arising 

 in the colonies; these are carried not to the 

 Lords but to the Privy Council (see GREAT 

 BRITAIN, subtitle Government, subhead, The 

 Judiciary). Below the House of Lords is the 

 Court of Appeals, which hears appeals from 

 the three branches of His Majesty's High 

 Court of Justice. These branches are the 

 Chancery Division (six judges), the King's 

 Bench Division (fifteen judges) and the Pro- 

 bate, Divorce and Admiralty Division (two 

 judges). The King's Bench has jurisdiction 

 over criminal cases and some civil suits, in- 

 cluding those affecting the Crown; the juris- 

 diction of the other divisions is indicated by 

 their names. The Court of Appeals is com- 

 posed of the Lord High Chancellor, any men 

 who have held that office, the Lord Chief Jus- 

 tice and seven other judges. The inferior or 

 local courts in Great Britain may be grouped 

 in four classes: (1) those having criminal or 

 quasi-criminal jurisdiction, including the (2) 

 borough sessions, petty or special sessions, and 

 general session; local civil courts of record, 

 such as the borough and county courts; (3) the 

 university courts of Oxford and Cambridge, 

 with limited jurisdiction when members of the 

 university are involved; and (4) manorial 

 courts, of which a few still survive. W.F.Z. 



Consult Foster's Treatise on Federal Practice; 

 Curtis's Jurisdiction of United States Courts. 



Related Subject*. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Constitution of the Parliament, subhead 



United States House of Lords 



Justice of the Peace Supreme Court 



COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH, one 



of the best-loved narrative poems of Henry 

 Wadsworth Longfellow, a simple epic of Puri- 

 tan life in the colony of Plymouth. Since its 

 publication in 1858 it has been a universal 

 favorite, because no poem is more distinctively 

 American in spirit, or pictures more vividly 



