"The foregoing fee bill, in Spanish, English, and the native dialect commonly spoken in the municipality, shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the office of every justice.

SEC. 27. Fee bill; exceptions; liability.-Testimony of witnesses in preliminary investigations and in criminal proceedings shall not be considered as depositions within the meaning of the previous sections: Provided, That nothing in this section contained shall be construed to require the taking of such testimony in writing except as required in preliminary investigations by section thirteen of this Act. In cases of non-suit or default the justice shall be entitled to but onehalf of the fees provided by this Act. In civil actions the fee may be demanded from the plaintiff by the justice in advance, and shall be taxed as a part of the costs against the defeated party. In criminal actions the fee shall be paid by the municipality, but shall be taxed as a part of the costs to be paid by the defendant, if he be convicted and sentenced to pay the costs. No fee shall be collected from townships organized under Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety

seven.

SEC. 28. Section four of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

SEC. 4. Court room and supplies.-Each municipality shall provide its justice of the peace with a room in the tribunal, or elsewhere, suitable for holding court, and the necessary furniture, lights, and janitor service therefor. All necessary supplies, including stationery, stamps, judicial blanks, and the dockets required by law, shall be furnished to each justice by the Bureau of Justice and paid for from funds appropriated for that Bureau. The office of the justice of the peace shall always be located in the población, but he may, upon the written request of both parties to a cause, hear the same at any other suitable place in his municipality, and his actual, necessary, and reasonable traveling expenses, not exceeding two and one-half pesos per day, to and from such place, may be taxed as costs in the case: Provided, however, That if the trial of more than one of such cases is requested in a particular locality, he shall arrange to try them as nearly as possible at the same time and place and divide the traveling expenses among them proportionately to the time consumed in the trial of each case.

SEC. 29. Section five of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. Qualifications and privileges.-No person shall be eligible to appointment as justice of the peace or auxiliary justice unless he shall be (1) at least twenty-three years of age; (2) a citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States; (3) of good moral character; and (4) able to read and write Spanish or English. He shall be present as often as the business of his court requires, and at least once each business day at an appointed hour in his office or at the place where his court is held, but he may, during his incumbency, with the permission of the Judge of First Instance of the district, pursue any other vocation or hold any other office or position, notwithstanding the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and forty-eight. But no justice or auxiliary justice may act as the attorney for any party to a cause commenced in his court or elsewhere except by special permission of the said judge.”

SEC. 30. Section nine of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 9. Criminal process may be issued by the justice, to be served outside his province, when the judge of First Instance of the district, or in his absence the provincial fiscal, shall certify that in his opinion the interests of justice require such service."

SEC. 31. Section ten of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 10. Receipts; restrictions. Upon receiving payment for any fees, fines, or costs, the justice shall execute duplicate itemized receipts therefor, consecutively numbered, delivering one copy to the person paying, and retaining the other. No justice or auxiliary justice, or employee, or either of them, shall receive any fees or other compensation in connection with his office, except as allowed by this Act; nor shall any such justice or employee accept any present or reward in the form of money or other valuable thing from any person who is, or is likely to be, a litigant before such court; nor shall he purchase or otherwise acquire an interest in any judgment rendered by such justice."

SEC. 32. Section eleven of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

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SEC. 11. Complaints; removals.—If at any time the judge of First Instance has reason to believe that a justice of the peace is not performing his duties properly, or if complaints are made which, if true, would indicate that the justice is unfit for the office, he shall make such investigation of the same as the circumstances may seem to him to warrant, and may, for good cause, reprimand the justice, or may recommend to the Governor-General his removal from office, or his removal and disqualification from holding office and may suspend him from office pending action by the Governor-General. The Governor-General may, upon such recommendation or on his own motion, remove from office any justice of the peace or auxiliary justice of the peace."

SEC. 33. Section twelve of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

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SEC. 12. Assembly. The judge of each judicial district shall hold an assembly of the justices of the peace of each province therein at least once each calendar year at a time and place to be fixed by him, for the purpose of instructing them in their duties, and considering questions relating to the proper administration of their offices. The actual, necessary, and reasonable traveling expenses of each justice for necessary travel to and from the place of holding said assembly, not exceeding the maximum fixed by law for similar expenses of municipal presidents, shall be paid by the Bureau of Justice upon presentation of proper vouchers. The judge may excuse from attendance any justice who has attended three successive assemblies or who has other sufficient reasons, but, unless so excused, the non-attendance of a justice shall justify his suspension or removal. The provincial fiscal shall also attend and assist the judge in conducting the assembly and the clerk of the court shall keep the minutes thereof and preserve a record of the attendance and standing of each justice. After three annual assemblies have been held in a province and the judge is of the opinion that all the justices thereof have been suffi

ciently instructed, he may defer calling the assembly until further need arises."

SEC. 34. Section forty-three of General Orders, Numbered Fiftyeight, series of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 43. Appeals. From all final judgments of the Court of First Instance or courts of similar jurisdiction, and in all cases in which the law now provides for appeals from said courts, an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court as hereinafter prescribed. The convicted party may appeal from any final judgment of a justice of the peace in a criminal cause to the Court of First Instance by filing a notice of appeal with such justice within fifteen days after the entry of judgment. Upon such notice being so filed, the justice shall forward to the Court of First Instance all original papers and a transcript of all docket entries in the cause, and the provincial fiscal shall thereupon take charge of the cause in behalf of the prosecution. The judgment of the Court of First Instance in such appeals shall be final and conclusive except in cases involving the validity or constitutionalty of a statute or the constitutionality of a municipal or township ordinance." The last two sentences of section thirty-nine (dd) of Act Numbered Eighty-two are hereby repealed.

SEC. 35. Section sixty-four of General Orders, Numbered Fiftyeight, series of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 64. Pending appeal.-After judgment by a justice of the peace, the defendant shall be admitted to bail as of right, and, in all non-capital cases after judgment by any other court, as a matter of judicial discretion. The appellate court may grant bail even after refusal by the lower court."

SEC. 36. Bail by fiscal.-In the absence of the judge of First Instance from the province, the provincial fiscal shall have authority to grant bail in a proper case, after commitment to the provincial jail, subject to review by said judge.

SEC. 37. Preliminary investigations.-Every justice of the peace, including the justice of the city of Manila, shall have jurisdiction to conduct preliminary investigations of all crimes and offenses alleged to have been committed within his municipality and cognizable by Courts of First Instance, but this shall not exclude the proper judge of the Court of First Instance or of a municipal court from exercising such jurisdiction. The justice of the peace of the provincial capital or of the municipality in which the provincial jail is located, when directed by an order from the judge of First Instance, shall have jurisdiction to conduct such investigations at the expense of the municipality wherein the crime or offense was committed, though alleged to have been committed anywhere within the province, to issue orders of arrest, subpoenas, and other necessary process therein, which shall run throughout the province; to admit the accused to bail before commitment; to commit or dicharge him and otherwise exercise such jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety-four. The first sentence of section one of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety-four, and Act Numbered Five hundred and ninety, as amended by Act Numbered Eleven hundred and thirty-two, are hereby repealed,

SEC. 38. Section seventy-eight of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 78. Transmittal of record. The justice of the peace from whose decision an appeal is taken, shall, within five days after the perfection of said appeal, transmit to the clerk of the Court of First Instance for the province a certified copy of the docket entries, together with all the original papers and process in the case, and the original appeal bond or certificate of deposit in lieu thereof, together with the appellate court docket fee, upon receipt of all of which the clerk shall docket the cause in the Court of First Instance, and the same fees shall thereafter be charged upon such appeal as in suits originating in said court."

SEC. 39. Section fifty-one of General Orders, Numbered Fiftyeight, series of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

"SEC. 51. Complaint.-Except as otherwise provided by law, criminal proceedings before a justice of the peace must be commenced by complaint under oath setting forth the offense charged, with such particulars as to time, place, person, and property as may be necessary to enable the defendant to understand distinctly the character of the offense charged, and to make answer thereto. Complaints for the infractions of municipal ordinances or for nonpayment of cedula tax, must be indorsed approved' by the municipal president."

SEC. 40. Complaints for the prosecution of an offense under Act Numbered Eleven hundred and forty-seven, as amended, must be indorsed" approved " by the treasurer of the province or his deputy, both of whom shall have power, without such prosecution, to receive the fees and minimum fine provided by said Act.

SEC. 41. Inquests upon dead bodies.-Whenever a justice of the peace outside the city of Manila has information that any person has died in his municipality under circumstances affording a reasonable ground to suspect that such death was the result of a criminal act or omission, or was the result of other than natural causes, it shall be the duty of such justice forthwith to go to the place where the corpse is, cause it to be exhumed if necessary, and hold an inquest as to the cause of such death, calling and examining such witnesses and making such investigations at the scene of death as may be required. If, as a result of such inquest, the justice shall find that the deceased died from the criminal act or omission of another who is not in custody, the justice shall forthwith issue a warrant for the arrest of such person, or, if necessary, may give oral direction for such arrest to any officer authorized to serve such process, and shall at once forward to the provincial fiscal a report of such inquest and receive the same fee as in preliminary investigations. The fiscal shall make such additional investigation as may be necessary. In the absence or disability of both the justice of the peace and the auxiliary justice of the peace of any municipality, the duties enjoined by this section upon them shall be performed by the municipal president. The provisions of subdivision (j) of section eighteen of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven shall not be applicable if there be a justice of the peace in the township.

SEC. 42. Act Numbered Nine hundred and ninety-two, and all sections of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty not expressly

amended by this Act, and all other Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 43. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred.

SEC. 44. This Act shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and seven, except section forty hereof, which shall take effect on June first, nineteen hundred and seven.

Enacted, March 30, 1907.

THE NEW JUSTICE OF THE PEACE ACT (No. 1627).

A CURSORY EXPLANATION, SHOWING CHANGES FROM OLD LAW AND SOME

OF THE REASONS THEREFOR.

Prepared by Hon. CHARLES S. LOBINGIER, Judge of the Court of First Instance, District of Manila.

Section 1.-The changes in this section consist mainly in providing for appointment, to continue during good behavior, and in giving preference to those who have made special preparation for the office. The purpose was, first, to provide a more stable tenure. Formerly the appointment was for two years only, and, as no justice was sure of being reappointed, he was not likely to take the same interest in his position as if he had felt that there was a reasonable probability of holding it as long as his services were satisfactory. Besides, as the terms of all justices expired at the same time, the work entailed upon the judges of First Instance in recommending their successors was much greater than under the new law, since the judge was required to investigate and make recommendations for all applicants at about the same time. It was often impossible to do this for each municipality of a large district, whereas, with but a single vacancy to be filled, more careful investigation can be made. The new law does not, however, make it any more difficult to get rid of an undesirable justice. On the contrary, under section 32 the judge of First Instance has absolute power to suspend and the Governor-General to remove on complaint or of his own motion.

By providing for promotions and especially by giving preference to those who have taken a regular magistrate's course, it ought to be possible in the course of time to fill a large number of these positions with qualified young men who would be willing to start in the position of justice of the peace in the hope of obtaining higher posts in the Bureau of Justice. The more promising justices ought, eventually, to afford material for fiscals.

The clause permitting justices in the Moro Province to assume office upon being named by the judge was inserted to avoid the long delays in communication with that province.

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