[ Act No. 1627, March 30, 1907 ]
AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS, OF GENERAL ORDERS, NUMBERED FIFTY-EIGHT, SERIES OF NINETEEN HUNDRED, AND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF ACTS NUMBERED EIGHTY-TWO, ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THREE AS AMENDED, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-FOUR AS AMENDED, SEVEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVEN AS AMENDED: ALSO TO REPEAL ACTS NUMBERED FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY AS AMENDED, NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY-TWO, AND FOURTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY, AND DESIGNED TO UNIFY THE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE OF THE "PEACE COURTS, CLARIFY EXISTING LEGISLATION RELATIVE THERETO AND FURTHER INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY THEREOF.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
Section 1. Section sixty-seven of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six, as amended by section one of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 67. Appointment and term.- One justice of peace and one auxiliary justice shall be appointed by the Governor-General, and by with the consent of the Philippine Commission, for the city of Manila, for each municipality organized according to the Municipal Code, and for such other towns or places as may be determined by resolution of said Commission. Whenever a vacancy occurs therein the judge or judges of the Court of First Instance of the district shall forward to the Governor-General a list of names of persons qualified to fill said vacancy. In preparing said list preference shall be given to any justice of the province who may desire to transfer to another station and whose record entitles him to promotion. The Director of Education shall certify to the Governor-General the names of all persons, otherwise qualified, who. shall have completed the course for magistrates at the Philippine Normal School or University and have expressed their willingness to serve as justices. Appointments shall lie made from the lists furnished as above prescribed : Provided, however, That in the Moro Province persons so designated by the judge of First Instance may assume the duties of justice of the peace while awaiting formal appointment, and shall so continue until such designation is vacated by the Governor-General.
"In case new municipalities are formed by the Commission the Governor-General shall, in the same manner, designate which of the justices and auxiliary justices within the territory so formed into the municipality shall continue in office and the powers of all others therein shall cease. All justices of the peace and auxiliary justices shall hold office during good behavior and those now in office shall so continue."
Section 2. Supervision: reports.-The judge of the Court of First Instance shall at all times exercise a supervision over the justices of the peace within his district, and shall keep himself informed of the manner in which they perform their duties, by personal inspection whenever possible, from reports which he may require from them, from cases appealed to his court, and from all other available sources. In proper cases he shall advise and instruct them whenever requested, or when occasion arises, and such justices of the peace shall apply to him and not to the Attorney-General for advice and instruction, and any such inquiries received by the Attorney-General shall be referred by him to the judge of the proper district. In lieu of the report now required by section seventy-seven of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six each justice of the peace hereafter shall, on or before December first of each year, forward to said judge of the district a report showing the number of suits begun in the court of said justice during the current year, the nature thereof, whether civil or criminal, the mode of disposition, whether by voluntary dismissal or judgment, the number still pending, the amount of costs and fees collected and for what service, and the number of marriages solemnized. Such report shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the Court of First Instance, and said judge of the district shall, with the assistance of said cleric, embody a summary of such reports for each province of his district, together with other matters of interest and importance relative to the administration of justice therein, particularly with reference the peace courts, in a brief report, which he shall forward by the close of each calendar year to the Secretary of Finance and Justice.
Section 3. Section sixty-eight of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 68. Civil jurisdiction and powers.-In all civil actions (including those mentioned in sections two hundred and sixty-two to two hundred and seventy-two as heroin amended), inclusive, and chapter eighteen of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety) arising in his municipality, and not exclusively cognizable by the Court of First Instance, the justice of the peace shall have exclusive original jurisdiction where the value of the subject-matter or amount of the demand does not exceed two hundred pesos, exclusive of interest and costs; and where such value or demand exceeds two hundred pesos but is loss than six hundred pesos, the justice of the peace shall have jurisdiction concurrent with the Court of First Instance. In forcible entry and detainer proceedings the justice shall have original jurisdiction, but he may receive evidence upon the question of title therein solely for the purpose of determining character and extent of possession and damages for detention.
"A justice of the peace shall have no jurisdiction to adjudicate questions of title to real estate or any interest therein, and whenever a case requiring such adjudication is brought before him it shall he his duty, upon discovering the same, to suspend further proceedings therein and certify the cause forthwith to the Court of First Instance. The jurisdiction of a justice of the peace shall not extend to civil actions in which the subject of litigation is not capable of pecuniary estimation, except in forcible entry and detainer cases; nor to those which involve the legality of any tax. impost, or assessment; nor to actions involving admiralty or maritime jurisdiction; nor to matters of probate, the appointment of guardians, trustees, ni' receivers: nor to actions for annulment of marriage.
"A justice of the peace shall have power, anywhere within his territorial jurisdiction, to solemnize marriages, administer oaths. take depositions and acknowledgments, and authenticate merchants' bonks as provided by articles nineteen and thirty-six of the Code of Commerce."
Section 4. Jurisdiction In in/ and sentence.-Justices of the peace, except in the city of Manila, shall have original jurisdiction to try parties charged with misdemeanors, offenses, and infractions of municipal ordinances, arising within the municipality, in which the penalty provided by law does not exceed six months' imprisonment or a fine of two hundred pesos, or both such imprisonment and fine: and subdivision (g) of section eighteen of Act Numbered Eighty-two is hereby repealed.
Section 5. Section seventy-one of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six, as amended by section six of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 71. Audit and settlement.- All fines and costs imposed by a justice of the pence in criminal prosecutions and all fees charged in civil suits or for any other service, and collected during any month, shall be paid, on the first day of the month succeeding their collection, to the municipal treasurer in the city of Manila to the Collector of Infernal Revenue, to whom, at the same time, the justice shall present a detailed statement of the amounts thus collected by him since his last previous report and of the amounts accruing to him from the municipal treasury during the same period. This account shall forthwith be audited by the municipal treasurer and president (in Manila, by the Insular Auditor) and be shall thereupon receive from the treasury the amount of his emoluments as allowed by such audit not exceeding for any month the monthly salary allowed by law to the president of the municipality : Provided, That in the city of Manila the justice of the peace shall receive, in lieu of all fees, the salary now fixed by law. The auditors above-mentioned shall examine the records of the justice of the peace and other papers or persons deemed necessary, and led receipts must be accounted for and turned in by said justice. But it shall not be necessary for the justice to of parties who have failed to pay costs taxed against them. If said auditors are of the opinion that needless prosecutions have been instituted for the purpose of enhancing fees, they shall report the facts to the judge of the Court of First Instance."
Section 6. Section seventy of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six, as amended by Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty, is hereby repealed, and section seventy-five of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 75. Service of process; officer.-The president of the municipality shall serve, or cause lo be served, through the municipal police force, any process issued by the justice of the peace thereof and delivered to said president. Process of the justice may also be served through the same channels as process from the Court of First Instance, and civil process, other than executions, maybe served by any person designated by the justice for that purpose. The justice of the peace of Manila shall be allowed two clerks with salaries to be fixed in the annual appropriation Act for said city."
Section 7. Section seventy-six of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six, as amended by Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty, is hereby amended so as to rend as follows:
"Section 76. The auxiliary justice of the peace shall have the same qualifications and be subject to the same restrictions as the regular justice, and shall perform the duties of said office during any vacancy therein or in case of the absence of the regular justice from the municipality, or of bis disability or disqualification, or in case of his death or resignation until the appointment and qualification of his successor, or in any cause whose immediate trial the regular justice shall certify lo be specially urgent and which he is unable to try by reason of actual engagement in another trial. The auxiliary justice for such time as he shall perform the duties of justice shall receive the compensation which would have accrued to the office of justice: Provided, That the auxiliary justice of Manila shall receive for the trial of each cause certified to him by the regular justice, as above provided, the sum of three pesos, which amount shall be deducted from the salary of the regular justice."
"Section 8. Section seventy-three of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 73. Disqualification of the regular justice shall result not alone from the disabilities mentioned in section eight of this Act (One hundred and ninety), but also when he is related within the sixth degree by marriage to either party. Tn every case if disqualification upon any of said grounds the regular justice shall notify the auxiliary, who shall thereupon appear and try the cause, unless he shall be likewise disqualified or otherwise disabled, in which event the cause shall be transferred to the next nearest justice of the peace of the province."
Section 9. Section fifty-one of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
"But the time of appearance shall be regulated not by the latter but by the former code, unless the defendant shall reside more than fifteen kilometers from the poblacion."
Section 10. Answer.-The defendant may interpose any lawful defense orally or in writing, but if on appeal it does not otherwise appear, he shall be considered as having interposed a general denial only. A set-off, counterclaim, or reconvention for an amount within the justice's jurisdiction may also be interposed but must be in writing,and, if requested by the defendant, the justice" shall reduce , the same V> writing. The first sentence of section fifty-six of Act "Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby repealed.
Section 11. Demurrer.-The defendant may challenge, orally or by written motion, the jurisdiction of the court over the subject-matter, the plaintiff's capacity to bring the action, or the sufficiency of the complaint on the ground that it fails to state a cause of action.
Section 12. Section sixty-five of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 65. Contempt proceedings.-A justice of the peace may incontempt Proceed-summarily impose a fine of not more than ten pesos or a term of imprisonment not exceeding one day, or both, upon any one guilty of misconduct in the presence of the justice or so near as to interrupt the proceedings of his court or in open defiance of his authority; but the party adjudged in contempt may appeal from such sentence and the same shall lie slaved as in ordinary criminal cases."
Section 13. Section sixty-nine of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 69. Dockets: record.-Every justice of the peace shall keep a well-bound book, labeled 'Docket,' in which he shall enter for each cause, civil or criminal:
"1. Title of the proceeding, including the names of all parties.
"2. Nature of the proceeding, whether civil or criminal, and if the latter, the offense charged.
"3. Date of issuing preliminary and mesne or intermediate process, including orders of arrest and subpoenas and the time of return.
"4. Appearance or default of the defendant.
"5. Date of presenting of plea, answer, or demurrere and the nature oft he same.
"6. Minutes of the trial,including the date thereof of all adjournments.
"7. Names and addresses of all witnesses.
"8. Date and nature of judgment, and, if in a civil cause, the amount.
"9. An itemized statement of the costs.
"10. Date of execution, if one be issued, and copy of the return.
"11. Date of filing notice of appeal, if one be filed, and by whom.
"It shall not be necessary for the justice to take down in writing the testimony of a witness in a cause, civil or criminal, except of the accused in preliminary investigations, as provided in section two of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety-four, as hereby amended, nor shall the justice be required to attend the sessions of the Court of First Instance except when regularly subpoenaed. But in criminal cases appealed to said court, and in preliminary investigations where the accused is bound over, the justice shall forward to the provincial fiscal a brief statement of the substance of the testimony. All witnesses, including the complainant, shall be examined under oath." Sections fifty-two and fifty-three of General Orders Numbered Fifty-eight, series of nineteen hundred, are hereby repealed.
Section 14. Venue.-Tho territorial jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, except in the case of ex officio justices and in other special cases provided by existing law. shall be coextensive with his municipality and the civil process of his court shall not run beyond the same except to summon a defendant impleaded with one who resides and has boon served therein or as provided in section fifteen of this Act, Forcible entry and detainer actions shall be brought in the municipality where the subject-matter thereof is situated. All other Proceedings shall be instituted in the municipality wherein a defendant resides or may be served with summons.
Section 15. Section seventy-two of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 72. Execution.-If after fifteen days from the rendition of the judgment no appeal shall have been perfected as provided in this Act, the justice, at the request of the prevailing party, shall issue upon such judgment an execution which may be enforced by the proper officer's in any part of the Philippine Islands."
Section 16. Section seventy-six of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 76. An appeal in civil causes shall be perfected by filing with the justice of the peace, within fifteen days after the entry of the judgment complained of a notice that the party intends to appeal, and by depositing with sued justice the appellate court docket fee of sixteen pesos, and by filing with him a bond in the sum of fifty pesos, executed to the adverse party by the appellant and by at least one sufficient surety, conditioned that the appellant will pay all costs which the Court of First Instance may award against him. In lieu of such a bond, the appellant may file with the justice a certificate of the proper official that the appellant has deposited twenty-five pesos with the municipal treasurer (in Manila with the Collector of Internal Revenue) and that said sum is available for the satisfaction of any judgment for costs that may be rendered against appellant by the appellate court in said cause. In case judgment is rendered in appellant's favor the sum deposited in lieu of appeal bond shall be returned to him by the official with whom it was deposited. Judgments rendered by the Court of First Instance on appeal shall be final and conclusive except in cases involving the validity or constitutionality of a statute or municipal ordinance."
Section 17. Section two hundred and seventy-two of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 272. Judgment.-After a trial of the issues the court shall find in whom is the right of possession and the value of the property and shall render judgment in the alternative for the delivery thereof to the party entitled to the same or for the value, in case delivery can not be made, and also for such damages as either party may prove, and for costs."
Section 18. Section two hundred and twenty of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
"But costs shall not be adjudged against a justice of the peace in such a proceeding unless the court shall find that in exceeding the jurisdiction he acted in bad faith."
Section 19. Section four hundred and seventy-four of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 474. Examination of judgment debtor; when and by whom ordered.-When an execution against property of a judgment debtor or any one of several debtors in the same judgment, issued to the sheriff or his deputy for the province where the defendant resides, or. if he does not .reside in the Philippine Islands, to the sheriff or his deputy for the province whore the judgment was rendered, is returned unsatisfied, in whole or in part, the judgment creditor, at any time after such return is made, shall be entitled to an order from a judge of the Court of First Instance which rendered the judgment, or if no appeal was taken from the justice's judgment, then from the justice of the peace in whose court the judgment was rendered, requiring such judgment debtor to appear and answer concerning his property before such judge, or before a referee appointed by him, or before such justice, as the case may be, at the time and place specified in the order; but no judgment debtor shall be required to attend before a Judge or referee out of the province in which such debtor resides or is found, or before a justice out of tin municipality in winch such debtor resides or is found."
Section 10. Section four hundred and seventy-five of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 475. Preliminary steps.-After the issuance of execution against property and upon proof, by affidavit of a party or otherwise, to the satisfaction of the judge or the justice of the peace, that said execution remains unsatisfied and that any judgment debtor has property subject to said execution which should be applied toward the satisfaction of the judgment, such judge or justice may by an order, require the judgment debtor to appear at a specified time and place within the territorial limits fixed in the preceding section, to answer concerning the same; and such proceedings may thereupon be had for application of the property of the judgment debtor towards the satisfaction of the judgement as are hereinafter prescribed. The judge may require the appearance to be made before a referee appointed by him."
Section 21. Section four hundred and seventy-six of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 476. Examination of debtor of judgment debtor.-After the return of an execution against the property of a judgment debtor, or of one of several debtors in the same judgment, unsatisfied in whole or in part, and upon proof by affidavit or sworn petition to the satisfaction of the judge or justice of the peace, as the case may be that a person, corporation, or other legal entity has property of such judgment debtor, or is indebted to him, the judge or justice of the peace may. by an order, require such person, corporation or other legal entity or any officer or member thereof, to appear and answer concerning the same at a specified time and place, within the province, and within the municipality in which such person, corporation or other legal entity is served with the order, if such order is made by a justice of the peace. The service of the order shall bind all credits due the judgment debtor and the money and property in the possession or in the control of such person, corporation, or legal entity from the time of service; and the judge or justice of the peace may also require notice of such proceedings to be given to any party to the action, in such manner as may seem to him proper."
Section 22. Section four hundred and seventy-eight of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 478. Enforcement of attendance.-A party or witness may be compelled, by an order or subpoena as in other cases, to attend before a judge, justice of the peace, or referee, to testify in such proceedings. Failure to obey such order or subpoena, duly served, shall constitute contempt. In case of such contempt the referee or justice of the peace may report the matter to the Court of First Instance of the province and such court may punish the contemner accordingly."
Section 23. Section four hundred and seventy-nine of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as read as follows:
''Section 470. Continuance.-The judge, justice of the peace or referee acting under the provisions of this chapter, may continue thee proceedings from time to time until they are completed: Provided, That such continuance, if granted by a justice of the peace shall not exceed ten days."
Section 24. Section four hundred and eighty of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 480. Oath and record.-If the examination is before a referee, it must be taken by the referee in writing and certified by him to the judge. All examinations and answers before a judge, justice of the peace, or referee must be under oath, and in case of a corporation or other legal entity the oath must be made by the legal representative thereof upon whom process may be served."
Section 25. Section four hundred and eighty-two of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 482. Disposition of properly: appeal.-The judge or justice of the peace may order any property of the judgment debtor, or money due him, not exempt by law. in the hands of either himself or other person, or of a corporation or other legal entity, to be applied towards the satisfaction of the judgment, subject to any prior rights of the holders of such property: but the earnings of the debtor for his personal services at any time within one month preceding the order can not be applied when it is made to appear by the affidavit of the debtor, or otherwise, that such earnings are necessary for the support of his family. When the order is made by a justice of the peace, an appeal may be taken as in other cases."
Section 26. Section seven hundred and ninety of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety, as amended by section eight of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty, is hereby further amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 790. Fee bill.-The following are the legal fees, in Philippine currency, to which a justice of the peace shall be entitled:
"For each criminal proceeding, including preliminary investigations, five pesos.
Provided, that in prosecutions for infractions of municipal ordinances or for non-payment of the cedula tax the fee shall be one peso and fifty centavos.
"For each civil action, three pesos.
"For performance of marriage ceremony, including issuance of certificate of marriage, one peso.
"For taking affidavit, fifty centavos.
"For taking acknowledgment, seventy-five centavos.
"For writing and certifying depositions, including oath, per one hundred words, or fractional part thereof, twenty centavos.
"For certified copies of any record, per one hundred words, or fractional part thereof, twenty centavos.
"For stamping and registering books, as required by articles nineteen and thirty-six of the Code of Commerce, each book, one peso.
"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."
Section 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 in preliminary investigations by section thirteen of this Act. In cases of non-suit or default the justice shall he entitled to but one-half 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.
Section 28. Section four of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
Section 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 poblacion, 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."
Section 29 Section live of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 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."
Section 30. Section nine of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 9. Criminal process may be issued by the justice, to be Criminal process, 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."
Section 31. Section ten of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 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 purcliase or otherwise acquire an interest in any judgment rendered by such justice."
Section 32. Section eleven of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
Section 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."
Section 33. Section twelve of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 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 seasonable 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 and 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 sufficiently instructed, he may defer calling the assembly until further need arises."
Section 34. Section forty-three of General Orders, Numbered Fifty-eight, series of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 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 constitutionality 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.
Section 35. Section sixty-four of General Orders, Numbered Fifty-eight, series of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 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.''
Section 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.
Section 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 aliened 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 discharge 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.
Section 38. Section seventy-eight of Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 78. Transmitted 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 ease, 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."
Section 39. Section fifty-one of General Orders, Numbered Fifty-eight, series of nineteen hundred, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
"Section 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 charge, and to make answer thereto, complaints for the infractions of municipal ordinances or for nan payment of cedula tax, must be indorsed 'approved' by the municipal president.ℒαwρhi৷"
Section 40. Complaints for the prosecution of an offense under Act a 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.
Section 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 seal 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.
Section 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.
Section 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 twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.
Section 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.
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