Power of the Mayor or Chief Magistrate to bind orphans, &c. as apprentices.

If the master die, ap.

prentice to be transferred to his successsor

apprentices may be transferred.

II. And be it enacted, That in any City or incorporated Town, it shall and may be lawful for the Mayor, Recorder, or Police Magistrate, and in any County or Union of Counties, it shall and may be lawful for the Chairman of and at any Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, to put and bind as aforesaid, to any Master Mechanic, Farmer or other person as aforesaid, with the consent of such person, and with the consent of the Minor, any Minor who may be an orphan, or who may be deserted by his or her parents or guardian, or whose parents or guardian may for the time be committed to any common gaol or house of correction, or any Minor who may be dependant upon any public charity for support; and such Apprentice and the Master of such Apprentice shall severally be held in the same manner as if such Apprentice had been bound by his or her parent.

III. And be it enacted, That if any Master of any such Apprentice shall die, such Apprentice shall by Act of Law, be transferred to the party, if any such there be, who in the business, &c.; shall continue the establishment of the deceased Master, and such party shall hold such Apprentice upon the same terms as his Master if alive would have done, and any Master may legally transfer his Apprentice to any person competent to receive or take any Apprentice; Provided always, that no Master shall transfer his Apprentice except to another carrying on the same kind of business as himself.

Proviso.

Duty of masters

IV. And be it enacted, That every Master shall provide suitable board, lodging and towards apprentices. clothing, or such equivalent therefor as may be mentioned in the Indenture, to his Apprentice during the term of his Apprenticeship, and shall also properly teach and instruct, or cause him to be taught and instructed in the art and mystery of his trade or calling.

Duty of apprentices.

Justices, &c. may hear

and determine complaints by apprentices against their masters.

V. And be it enacted, That every Apprentice shall, during the term of his Apprenticeship, faithfully serve his Master, shall obey all lawful and reasonable commands, and shall not absent himself from his service, day or night, without his

consent.

VI. And be it enacted, That any Justice of the Peace, Mayor, or Police Magistrate, shall have power, on complaint made before him on oath, by any Apprentice against his Master for any refusal of necessary provisions, misusage, cruelty or ill-treatment, after having duly summoned such Master to appear before him to answer to the complaint, to hear and determine such complaint, and on conviction to levy such fine on the offender not exceeding the sum of Five Pounds currency, as to such Justice, Mayor, or Police Magistrate may seem meet, and to issue distress to collect such fine and the necessary costs, and in default of satisfaction of such distress, to imprison the offender in any common gaol for a term not exceeding one month. And any of the said Justices, against their appren- Mayor, or Police Magistrate shall have power also, on complaint of any Master against his Apprentice for refusal to obey his commands, for waste or damage to property, or for any other improper conduct, to cause such Apprentice to come before him, and to hear and determine such complaint, and on conviction, to order such Apprentice to be imprisoned in any common gaol or house of correction for any time not exceeding one month.

And by masters

tices.

Liability of apprentice deserting his master's

service.

be heard, &c.

VII. And be it enacted, That if any Apprentice shall absent himself from his Master's service or employment before the time of his Apprenticeship shall be expired, he shall at any time thereafter, wherever he shall be found in this Province, be liable and may be compelled to serve his Master for so long a time as he shall have so absented himself from his service, unless he shall make satisfaction to his Master for the loss he shall How complaints may have sustained by his absence from his service. And in case such Apprentice shall refuse to serve as hereby required, or to make such satisfaction to his Master as aforesaid, or in case any such Apprentice refuse to obey the lawful commands of his Master, or in any other way or manner refuse to perform his duty to his Master, or neglect to perform the same, such Master, or his overseer or agent, may complain on oath to any Justice of the Peace, Mayor, or Police Magistrate, either in the County, City or Town where such Master resides, or in any County, City or Town where such absconding Apprentice may be found; and any such Justice, Mayor, or

&c.

Police Magistrate may, by Warrant under his hand and seal, cause such Apprentice to be apprehended and brought before him, or some other Justice of the Peace, and upon hearing the complaint, may determine what satisfaction shall be made by such Apprentice to his Master: And in case such Apprentice shall not give or make such Committal of apprensatisfaction immediately, or if the satisfaction be of such a nature as not to allow of tice in certain cases, immediate performance, give sufficient surety to make such satisfaction, then in either case it shall be lawful for such Justice, Mayor, or Police Magistrate to commit such Apprentice to the common gaol, or House of Correction of such County, City or Town, for any time not exceeding three months: Provided always, that such Proviso. imprisonment shall not release such Apprentice from his obligation to make up his lost time to his Master as aforesaid: And provided also, that where such Apprentice Proviso. shall not have left that part of this Province called Upper Canada, or having left it, shall return thereto, such Master shall not proceed under this Act against such Apprentice, except within three years next after the expiration of the term for which such Apprentice shall have contracted to serve, or next after such his return, as the case may be.

VIII. And be it enacted, That any person who shall knowingly harbor or employ any absconding Apprentice, shall be liable to pay to the Master of such Apprentice the full value of such Apprentice's labor, which value shall be deemed and taken to be the value which such Master would have received from the labor and service of such Apprentice if he had continued faithfully in his service, which may be recovered in any Court having jurisdiction where such Apprentice may be employed, or where his Master may reside.

Penalty for employing or harboring abscond

ing apprentice.

Indenture may be becomes insane, &c.

avoided if apprentice

IX. And be it enacted, That if any Apprentice shall become insane, or be convicted of any crime of the degree of felony, or be sentenced to the Provincial Penitentiary, or abscond, his Master may avoid the indenture of Apprenticeship, from the time he shall give notice in writing of his intention so to do to the other parties to the indenture, either by serving them with such notice or copy thereof, or by inserting the same in some newspaper of the County or City where such Master's establishment is situated, or in the Canada Gazette: Provided always, such Master make such election within Proviso. one month after the happening of the event upon which such right of election arises, but not otherwise.

X. And be it enacted, That the provisions of a certain Act of the Parliament of Act 13 & 14 Vict. c. this Province, passed in the Session thereof held in the thirteenth and fourteenth years 54, to apply. of the reign of our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, intituled, An Act to extend the right of appeal in certain cases in Upper Canada, shall be held to extend and apply to all cases arising under this Act, or having any reference thereto.

XI. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act shall be construed to deprive the Act not to affect jurisCourt of Quarter Sessions of primary jurisdiction over offences committed against diction of Q. S. this Act, but that whenever the said Court of Quarter Sessions shall be called upon to adjudicate in any matter or case arising under this Act, in addition to the powers now possessed by such Court, it shall have power and discretion in cases where it Additional powers shall appear necessary for the full and perfect administration of justice, to annul any given to that Court. Apprenticeship, and compel the parties to the indenture of Apprenticeship to deliver

the same up to be cancelled, and make such further order as the circumstances may require.

XII. And be it enacted, That all fines imposed and collected under this Act shall Application of fines, be paid to the Chamberlain of the City, or to the Treasurer of the County or Town respectively, where the offence was committed.

XIII. And be it enacted, That the word "Master," when it occurs in this Act, shall include any person or number of persons, male or female, carrying on business singly or in copartnership; and words importing the singular number or masculine gender, shall include several persons, and males as well as females, unless there be something in the subject inconsistent with such interpretation.

Interpretation clause.

Minors may bind

themselves to labour in certain cases.

Extent of Act.

XIV. And be it enacted, That any Minor over the age of sixteen years having no parent or legal guardian, or who shall not reside with his parent or guardian, who shall, after the passing of this Act, enter into any engagement written or verbal to perform any service or work, shall be subject to the same legal provisions, and have the same benefit as if such Minor had been of legal age at the time of making such agreement.

XV. And be it enacted, That this Act shall extend only to Upper Canada.

CAP. XII.

An Act to amend the Heir and Devisee Act.

[2d August, 1851. ]

Preamble

8 Vict. c. 8.

12 Vict. c. 63.

12 Vict. c. 64.

Part of Sect. 2, of 8 Vict. c. 8 repealed: and other provisions substituted.

W

HEREAS by the second section of the Act of the Parliament of this Province, passed in the eighth year of Her Majesty's Reign, chaptered eight, and intituled, An Act to repeal certain Acts therein mentioned, and to make better provision for the relief of parties claiming lands in Upper Canada for which no patent hath issued, as representing the original Nominees of the Crown, it is enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Governor of this Province, from time to time, to issue such and so many Commissions, under the Great Seal of this Province, to the Chief Justice of Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench for Upper Canada, the Vice-Chancellor of Upper Canada, and the Puisné Justices of the said Court of Queen's Bench, and to such and so many other persons as he shall see fit; and such Commissioners, or any three of them, of whom the said Chief Justice, the said Vice-Chancellor, or one of the said Puisné Justices shall be one, shall form a quorum, and have full power and authority for all the purposes of the said Act: And whereas, by a certain Act, passed in the twelfth year of Her Majesty's Reign, chaptered sixty-three, and intituled, An Act to make further provision for the Administration of Justice by the establishment of an additional Superior Court of Common Law, and also a Court of Error and Appeal in Upper Canada, and for other purposes, an additional Court of Common Law, called the Court of Common Pleas, consisting of a Chief Justice and two Puisné Judges, has been constituted and established; and by a certain other Act, passed in the said twelfth year of Her Majesty's Reign, chaptered sixty-four, and intituled, An Act for the more effectual Administration of Justice in the Court of Chancery of the late Province of Upper Canada, it is enacted, that the said Court of Chancery shall be presided over by a Chief Judge, to be called the Chancellor of Upper Canada, and two additional Judges, to be called Vice-Chancellors; and whereas it is expedient that the said second section of the first herein recited Act should be repealed, and power given to the Governor or person administering the Government to issue Commissions under the said first recited Act, as well to the said Chief Justice and Puisné Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, and the said Chancellor and Vice-Chancellors, as to the said Chief Justice and Puisné Justices of the said Court of Queen's Bench: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, constituted and assembled by virtue of and under the authority of an Act passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and intituled, An Act to re-unite the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the Government of Canada, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That that part of the second section of the Act herein first above recited, which designates the persons to whom Commissions may be issued for all the purposes of that Act, be and the same is hereby repealed; and from and after the passing of this Act, it shall be lawful for the Governor, or person administering the Government of this Province, from time to time, to issue such and so many Commissions, under the Great Seal of this Province, to the Chief Justice of Her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench for Upper Canada, the Chancellor of Upper Canada, the Chief Justice of the said Court of Common

Pleas

Pleas, the Puisné Justices of the said Court of Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, and the Vice-Chancellors, and to such and so many other persons as he shall think fit; and such Commissioners, or any three of them, of whom the said Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, the Chancellor for Upper Canada, the Chief Justice of the said Court of Common Pleas, or one of the said Puisné Justices of the said Court of Queen's Bench or Common Pleas, or one of the said Vice-Chancellors shall be one, (such three Commissioners to be a quorum for all the purposes of that Act,) shall have full power and authority, in the manner and for all the purposes mentioned in the said Act.

CAP. XIII.

An Act for the further amendment of the Administration of the Criminal Law.

W

[2d August, 1851. ]

HEREAS it is expedient to provide a better mode than that now in use of deciding any difficult question of law which may arise in Criminal trials in any Court of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery, and to make further amendments in the Administration of the Criminal Law: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, constituted and assembled by virtue of and under the authority of an Act passed in the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and intituled, An Act to re-unite the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the Government of Canada, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That when any person shall have been convicted of any treason, felony or misdemeanor before any Court of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or Quarter Sessions, the Judge, Recorder or Justices of the Peace before whom the case shall have been tried, may, in his or their discretion, reserve any question of law which shall have arisen on the trial, for the consideration of the Justices of either of Her Majesty's Superior Courts of Common Law, and thereupon shall have authority to respite execution of the judgment on such conviction, or postpone the judgment, until such question shall have been considered and decided, as he or they may think fit; and in either case the Court, in its discretion, shall commit the person convicted to prison, or shall take a recognizance of bail, with one or two sufficient sureties, and in such sum as the Court shall think fit, conditioned to appear at such time or times as the Court shall direct, and receive judgment, or to render himself in execution, as the case may be.

Case to be stated and certified to such su

perior court.

II. And be it enacted, That the Judge, Recorder, or Court of Quarter Sessions, shall thereupon state in a case to be signed by such Judge, Recorder or the Chairman of such Court, the question or questions of law which shall have been so reserved, with the special circumstances upon which the same shall have arisen; and such case shall be transmitted by such Judge, Recorder or Court of Quarter Sessions to one or other of the said Superior Courts on or before the last day of the first week of the Term of such Superior Court next after the time when such trial shall have been had; and the Powers of the Judges Justices of either of the said Superior Courts shall thereupon have full power and of such superior court. authority to hear and finally determine the said questions, and thereupon to reverse, affirm or amend any judgment which shall have been given on the indictment or inquisition on the trial whereof such question or questions have arisen, or to avoid such judgment, and to order an entry to be made on the record, that in the judgment of the said Justices the party convicted ought not to have been convicted, or to arrest the judgment, or order judgment to be given thereon at some other Session of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or other Sessions of the Peace, if no judgment shall have been before that time given, as they shall be advised, or to make such other order as justice may require; and such judgment and order, if any, of the said Justices shall be Judgment to be cercertified under the hand of the Chief Justice or Senior Judge of such Court to the tified to the court Clerk

234

below: its conse. quence.

How the Judgment of

be delivered.

Clerk of Assize, or to the Clerk of the Peace, or Recorder's Clerk, as the case may be, who shall enter the same on the original record in proper form, and a certificate of such entry, under the hand of the Clerk of Assize, or the Clerk of the Peace, or the Recorder's Clerk, as the case may be, in the form as near as may be, or to the effect mentioned in the Schedule annexed to this Act, with the necessary alterations to adapt it to the circumstances of the case, shall be delivered or transmitted by him to the Sheriff or Gaoler in whose custody the person convicted shall be, and the said certificate shall be sufficient warrant to such Sheriff or Gaoler, and all other persons, for the execution of the judgment, as the same shall have been so certified to have been affirmed or amended, and execution shall thereupon be executed. on such judgment, or for the discharge of the person convicted from further imprisonment, if the judgment be reversed, avoided or arrested, and in that case such Sheriff or Gaoler shall forthwith discharge him, and also the next Court of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or Sessions of the Peace, shall vacate the recognizance of bail, if any; and if the Court of Oyer and Terminer or Gaol Delivery, or Sessions of the Peace, shall be directed to give judgment, the said Court shall proceed to give judgment at the next Session.

III. And be it enacted, That the judgment or judgments of the said Justices of the the superior court shall said Superior Courts shall be delivered in open Court, after hearing Counsel or the parties, in case the prosecutor or person convicted shall think it fit that the case shall be argued, in like manner as the judgments of the said Superior Courts are now delivered.

IV. And be it enacted, That the said Justices of the said Superior Courts, when a case has been reserved for their opinion, shall have power, if they think fit, to cause the case or certificate to be sent back for amendment, and thereupon the same shall be amended accordingly, and judgment shall be delivered after it shall have been amended. V. And be it enacted, That whenever any Writ of Error shall be brought upon any judgment or any indictment, information, presentment or inquisition in any criminal case, and the Court of Error shall reverse the judgment, it shall be competent for such Court of Error either to pronounce the proper judgment, or to remit the record to the Court below, in order that such Court may pronounce the proper judgment upon such indictment, information, presentment or inquisition.

VI. And be it enacted, That every person who shall forge or alter, or shall offer, utter, dispose of or put off, knowing the same to be forged or altered, any certificate of or copy certified by a Chief Justice or Senior Judge, or by a Clerk of Assize, Clerk of the Peace or Recorder's Clerk, as the case may be, with intent to cause any person to be discharged from custody, or otherwise prevent the course of justice, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the Court, to be imprisoned in the Provincial Penitentiary for any period not more than seven nor less than three years.

VII. And be it enacted, That this Act shall be in force only in Upper Canada.

SCHEDULE.

Whereas at the Session of the Peace, for the County (or united Counties or City) of and others, their

held on

before

fellows (or at the Session of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery, held for the County
(or united Counties) of
before the Honorable

on

, one of the Justices of the Court of

, and others

his fellows, Justices of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery,) A. B., late of

having been found guilty of felony, and judgment thereon given, that (state the substance,) the Court before whom he was tried reserved a certain question of law for the consideration of the Justices of one of the Superior Courts of Common Law, and execution was thereupon respited in the mean time; This is to certify that the Justices of the Court of Queen's Bench (or Common Pleas) having met at Toronto, in Term (or the sittings after Term,) it was considered by the said Justices there, that