198 
SECOND BOOK. 
the law. Their courts are known as ‘ Petty Ses- 
sions Courts ’. 
3 . Each parish has a Resident Magistrate, who 
undertakes the trial of cases that the Justices of 
the Peace have not authority to hear. He takes a 
part in the trials at the Petty Sessions, acting as 
Chairman of the Justices when he is present. His 
own court, at which he alone has authority, has the 
power in certain cases to lay *a fine of £50 upon an 
offender, or, for very serious offences, to send him 
to prison for twelve months. 
4. It is also the duty of the Resident Magistrate 
to act as Coroner for his parish ; that is, to hold a 
court of inquiry in all cases in which a person dies 
suddenly, or from causes that are not well known 
to be natural and satisfactory. 
5. Great care is taken that no man shall be 
treated unjustly. If anyone thinks that his case 
has been decided unfairly in the Resident Magis- 
trate’s Court, he has a right to go to the Supreme 
Court, which is the highest of all, to have his 
complaint heard by the Judges. 
There are three Judges appointed to form the 
Supreme Court, one of whom is styled the ‘ Chief 
Justice of Jamaica’. This court is held at Kingston 
at least six times a year. 
6. For the trial of the greater crimes — such as 
murder, arson, horse and cattle stealing, &c. — one 
of the judges holds a court in the principal town of 
