Local Courts Act 1870 (SA)

ANNO TRICESIMO TERTIO ET TRICESIMO QUARTO

A. D. 1870.

No. 12.

An Act to further amem? tlze G Locnl COZC~~! Act, 1861."

[Assented to, 12th October, 1870.1

HEBEAS the provisions of the " Local Court Act, 1861," ~, ,~1, , . ,

relating to the holding of Local Courts, and the establisllment of the sanze, and the organization thereof, have been found curxlbrous ancl expensive, and it is expedient to amend the same-Be i t thcre-

fore Enacted by the Governor of the Province of South Australia,

with thc advice arid consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of the said Province, in this present T'arliament as- sembled, as follows:

1. In addition to the powcrs given to the Governor by the Local tablish Governor Local may Courts es-

Courts Act, 1861," i t shall be lawf'ul for the Governor, from time to within Districts to bo

time, by Proclamation in the &W% Azrsh.nlinn Govermtent Gazette, defined.

to constitute and establish Local Courts to be held within certain

parts or Districts of the said Province, to bc in such Yroclamation

mentioned. for the trial of causes cognizable by Local Courts of fu l l

and limitcd jurisdiction, and to fix the places a t which the office of

any Local Court shall be situate, and the times and days during

which such office shall be opened; and also by Proclamation to

appoint a Jury District, from which jurors for the trial of any

causes cognizable by the Court, by or before which the cause shall be

triable, shall be summoned, and in such Proclamation to appoint the

time and place when and where the Jury Lists shall be revised.

2. In everv such District there shall be an ofice of the Local Officesof Local

Courts appohted to be held within the District, which office shall ~;';~e~;;~;o"at

be open for the dispatch of business on such days and times as the	~hai i	appoint.
Governor shall appoint by notice in the South Australian Govern-

Q men t

33" & 34" VICTORIX, No. 22.

Local Court Amendment Act.-1 $70.

Process t o h u e from	ment Gazette, and at which office all plaints, appearances, and pleas
such office in respect
of actione within the	shall be entered, and a11 summonses and other process shall be
District.	issued relating to actions arising and triable within the District at any of the Local Courts established therein, and at which office all moneys shall be received and paid in and out of Court in respect of all actions commenced at any Cocal Court within the District, and where the Record Book shall be kept, and from which office all warrants of execution shall issue.

~overnorto appoint 3. It shall be lawful for the Governor, by notice in the South

c'erhandbB'iffal	Austrakm Government Gazette, to appoint one or more than one
clerk, and one or more than one bailiff, to discharge the respective duties of such officers, within the particular District for which he or they shall rcspectivcly be appointed.

Cause to be tried at	4.	At the time of enteriug a plaint in any Local Court, the plrtin-
Court within the Dis-

trict of which the tiff shall give notice to the Clerk of the Court within the District

notice.	plaintiffaha"&y~t	which he is desirous that the cause shall be tried, and in the went of the defendant entering an appearance or defence to the action, the cause shall be tried at such Court, and notice of trial
given accordingly. ..
summonses mav be	5. It shall not be necessarv for a bailiff of the Court to serve any person appointed or employed by him for the purpose; and the plaintiff or the person so appointed or employed shall, forthwith after service of any summons, endorse on the duplicate summons thc day of thc month and of such scrvicc, &d shall, within four days of the servicc, swear an a;ffidavit of snch service, ancl shall as soon after such service as practicable file the said duplicate summons together with the affidavit of service of such summons with the Clerk of the Court whence such summons shall have issued.
lerVed

by person	by employed	plaidtiff Or any summons, but the same ,;ay	be served by the plaintiff. or by
bp him.

Forme in Schedule to Local Court Act, 6. I t shall not be necessary that the several forms contained in

1861, mag be altered. the Schedules to the " Local Court Act, 1861," shall be strictly adhered to; but the same may from time to time be altered or amended by a Magistrate or Clerk of any Local Court to meet the exigency of the case, and for the purpose of rendering them con- formable to the requirements of this Act.

Jurg lists.	7. There shall be one juror's roll prepared for each such district, and the jurors named in such roll, or a sufficient number thereof, shall be summoned on all causes triable within such district.
In what courte	8. Every action shall be commenced in the Court having juris- diction to the amount claimed nearest in n direct line to the place where the defendant or one of the defendants shall dwell or carry on business at the time of the action brought, or where the cause of action arose, or, in the case of replevin, in the Court nearest in a direct line to the place where the distress was taken, or if the plaintiff dwells more than twenty miles froill where the defendant
actiOm t*"
menced,

dwells,

33O & 34" VICTORIX, No. 12.

Local Cou~t Amendment Acb.1870.

dwells, or where the cause of action did not arise wholly or in some material point within the like distance of the Court nearest to ~vhich the defendallt dwells or carries on business a t the time of the action brought, the action may be commenced in the Adelaide Local Court, but no defendant shall be a110 fled to object that the action has not been commenced in the proper Court unless hc shall file a memorandum of such objection, setting out the grounds thereof at the time of entering his appearance: Provided always that if, in the opinion of the Court in which the action was com- menced, the plaintiff might, at the time the action was coml~mwed,

have had any reasonable ground for supposing that such Court was the Court having jurisdiction in the cause, such Court may proceed

to hear and determine such cause and shall have jurisdiction therein. !

9. If the plaintiff in any action shall not at the time of entering secur i t~ for costs.

his plaint be within the said Province, or if he shall before jndgmcnt

is signed leave the said Province, a Special hMgistrate may order

such plaintiff to give security for the costs, to such amount and in such manner as such Spccial li\lagistmte may order, and may stay all proceedings in the action until such security be given.

process under the " Local Court Act, 1861," may swear the affidavit boforc Commissioner. 10. The bailiff of any court, or any person having served any Affidavit of service

of such service before a Commissioner appointed to take affidavits in

thc Supreme Court, or before any Justice of the Peace.

a Local Court may be proved by afJida\4t, and such affidavit shall be evidenco. 11. The service of any notice rcquired in the trial in any action in Affidavit of service

received in evidence on the trial of any action in a Local Court.

12. Thc contcnts of miy document in thc custody of the Clerk Certain certified of any Local Coiut, may be proved in any Court by a certified copy copies evidoncc.

of the same, under the hand of the Spccial Magistrate or Clerk of

such Local Court, md the seal of such Local Court.

13. Except as herein provided, and except so far as the same Local Courts A C ~,

relates to the place at which the offices of Local Courts shall be OourtsAmendment 1861, nrld Local

situate, a d the time during which such offices shall be opened, Act, 1863, incorpo-

the Local Court Act, l86 1 ," and all the ~rovisions and enact- rated with this Act.

rnents thereof shall colkinne and be in force, ind thc last-mentioned Act (except as aforesaid) and the "Local Courts Amendment Act, 1563," shall (except in so far as the same are inconsistent with this Act) be incorporated and read herewith as one Act.

14. This Act may be cited as the "Local Courts Amendment S h o r t t i t l e o f ~ c t.

Act, 1870."

In the name and on behalf of thc Queen I hereby assent to

this Act.

JAMES FERGUSSON, Governor.

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Adelaide : Printed by authority, by W. C. Cox, Government Printor, North-terrace.