QUARTER SESSIONS (in full, General Quarter Sessions of the Peace) is the name given to a local court with civil and criminal jurisdiction. In England the court consists in counties of two or more justices of the peace, one of whom must be of the quorum (see Justice of the Peace), in cities and boroughs of the recorder alone. The quarter sessions are a court of record. The records in a county are nominally in the custody of the custos rotulorum, the highest civil officer in the county, practically in that of the clerk of the peace, who is nominated by the custos and removable by the quarter sessions. In a city or borough he is appointed by the council and removable by the recorder. The original jurisdiction of quarter sessions seems to have been confined to cognizance of breaches of the peace. By a series of statutes passed in the reign of Edward III. the time of the holding of the sessions was fixed, and their jurisdiction extended to the trial of felonies and trespasses. The jurisdiction now depends upon a mass of legislation reaching from 1344 to the present time. The dates at which the county sessions must meet are fixed, by 2 Geo. IV. and 1 Will. IV. c. 70, to be the first weeks after the 11th of October, the 28th of December, the 31st of March, and the 24th of June. Quarter sessions in a city or borough depend upon the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, 45 & 46 Vict., c. 50. A grant of quarter sessions to a city or borough is made by the crown in council on petition of the town council. The main points in which borough differ from county quarter sessions are these:—(1) the recorder, a barrister of five years’ standing, is sole judge in place of a body of laymen; (2) the recorder has a discretion to fix his own dates for the holding of a court, as long as he ...holds it once every quarter of a year; it may be held more frequently if the recorder think fit or a secretary of state so direct; (3) the recorder has no power to levy a borough rate or to grant a licence for the sale of exciseable liquors by retail. In some few boroughs the recorder is judge of the borough civil court. Quarter sessions in the counties of Middlesex, Kent, and Lancaster, as also in London and the Cinque Ports, are governed by special legislation.
The jurisdiction of quarter sessions is either original or appellate.
Original Jurisdiction.—Civil.— This includes the levying of a county rate and its application, the appointment of a county licensing committee, and of public officers, such as the county treasurer, the public analyst, and the inspectors of weights and measures, the confirmation of bye-laws made by local authorities, the increase or alteration of polling places and petty sessional divisions, the regulation of police, and powers under various Acts of Parliament, such as the Highway Acts, and the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act. The quarter sessions of the metropolitan counties have by 25 Geo. II. c. 36 the power of licensing music-halls, &c., within 20 miles of London.
Criminal.— Apart from statute, the commissions of justices of the peace provide that they shall reserve the graver felonies for trial at assizes. They are now forbidden by several Acts of Parliament to try a prisoner for treason or murder, or for any felony punishable without a previous conviction by penal servitude for life (such as burglary and rape), or for any of the offences enumerated in 5 & 6 Vict. c. 38, the most practically important of which are perjury, forgery, bigamy, abduction, concealment of birth, libel, bribery, and conspiracy. The procedure is by indictment, as at assizes, and the trial of offences by jury. In the case of incorrigible rogues and of sureties of the peace the quarter sessions exercise a quasi-criminal jurisdiction without a jury. They may also estreat recognizances entered into for appearance in a court of summary jurisdiction, but this part of their jurisdiction may be considered practically obsolete, as the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, gives the court of summary jurisdiction power to estreat the recognizances itself.
Appellate Jurisdiction.—Civil.— The principal cases in which this jurisdiction is exercised are in appeals from orders of a court of summary jurisdiction as to the assessment of the poor-rate and the removal and settlement of paupers, and orders made under the Highway, Licensing, and Bastardy Acts.
Criminal.— An appeal lies to quarter sessions from a court of summary jurisdiction only where such an appeal is expressly given by statute. The appellate jurisdiction has been considerably increased by the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879 (42 & 43 Viet, c. 49), which allows an appeal (with certain exceptions) from every conviction or order of a court of summary jurisdiction inflicting imprisonment without the option of a fine. The appeal may be brought in accordance with either the Act giving the appeal or the Summary Jurisdiction Act.
There is no appeal from quarter sessions on the facts, but their decision may be reviewed by the High Court of Justice by means of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, or a case stated under 12 & 13 Vict. c. 45, § 11. A case may be stated for the opinion of the court of criminal appeal under 1Ï & 12 Vict. c. 78, § 1.
Ireland.— In Ireland the chairman of quarter sessions is a salaried professional lawyer, and has important civil jurisdiction corresponding very much to that of a county court judge in England. His jurisdiction depends chiefly upon 14 & 15 Vict. c. 57. The recorders of Dublin and Cork are judges of the civil bill courts in those cities.
Scotland.— In Scotland quarter sessions were established by the Act 1661, c. 338, under which justices were to meet on the first Tuesday of March, May, and August, and the last Tuesday of October to “administrate justice to the people in things that are within their jurisdiction and punish the guilty for faults and crimes done and committed in the preceding quarter.” The jurisdiction of quarter sessions in Scotland is more limited than in England, much of what would be quarter-sessions work in England being done by the sheriff or the commissioners of supply. Quarter sessions have appellate jurisdiction in poaching, revenue, and licensing cases, and under the Pawnbrokers and other Acts. All appeals from proceedings under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts are taken to the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh or on circuit (44 & 45 Vict. c. 33). The original jurisdiction of quarter sessions is very limited, and almost entirely civil. Thus they have power to divide a county and to make rules for carrying into effect the provisions of the Small Debts Act, 6 Geo. IV. c. 48. The decision of quarter sessions may be reviewed by advocation, suspension, or appeal.
United States.— In the United States courts of quarter sessions exist in many of the States; their jurisdiction is determined by State legislation, and extends as a rule only to the less grave crimes. They are in some States constituted of professional judges.
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