stated the place therein described was duly certified and duly recorded as required by this Act, and that at the date of such sealed or stamped certificate the record of such certification remained uncancelled; and every such sealed or stamped certificate, if tendered in evidence upon any trial or other judicial proceeding in any civil or criminal court, shall be received as evidence of the said several facts therein mentioned without any further or other proof of the same. 18 & 19 Vict. c. 86 (Liberty of Religious Worship Act, 1855), s. 2.]— Applies to Roman Catholic and Jewish places of worship the laws for the time being in force as to Protestant dissenters. 23 & 24 Vict. c. 32 (Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act, 1860), s. 1.]— Abolishes ecclesiastical jurisdiction as to persons guilty of brawling who are not in holy orders. [See 5 & 6 Edw. 6, c. 4.] Sect. 2.1-Summary punishment of persons guilty of riotous, violent, or indecent behaviour in places of worship of the Established Church or places of worship certified under 18 & 19 Vict. c. 81, during celebration of divine service, or at any other time, or in a churchyard or burial ground. section applies to clergy as well as laity. Vallancey v. Fletcher [1897] 1 Q. B. 265. Sect. 4.]-Appeal to quarter sessions from any conviction. This Sect. 6.1-Nothing hereinbefore contained shall be taken to repeal or alter 1 Mar. sess. 2, c. 3; or 1 Eliz. c. 2; or 1 W. & M. c. 18, s. 15 (s. 18 in Ruffhead) (ante, p. 1023). 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 50-Sacrilege.]-Ante, p. 621. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 97, ss. 1, 8, 11, 12, 37-Malicious injury to churches.]— Ante, pp. 647, 648, 670. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 36.]—Arresting, etc., ministers of religion when in discharge of their functions (ante, p. 856). 43 & 44 Vict. c. 41 (Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880), s. 7.]— . . . And every person guilty of any riotous, violent, or indecent behaviour at any burial under this Act, or wilfully obstructing such burial, or any such service as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. [For other offences created by the section, see ante, p. 1021.] Indictment for disturbing a Congregation of Baptists during Divine Service. (52 G. 3, c. 155, s. 12, ante, p. 1023.) Westmoreland, to wit:-The jurors for our lord the King upon their oath present, that heretofore, to wit, at the general quarter sessions of the peace holden at Appleby, in and for the county of Westmoreland, on the day of, in the year of our Lord, before A. B. and C. D., esquires, and others their associates, justices of our lord the King, assigned to keep the peace of our said lord the King in the said county, and also to hear and determine divers felonies, trespasses, and other misdemeanors in the said county committed, J. N., clerk, teacher, and A.C.P. 65 preacher to a congregation of Protestants dissenting from the Church of England, scrupling infant baptism, did then, pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided, certify to his Majesty's justices of the peace assembled in quarter sessions aforesaid, that he had appointed a certain house situate at —, in the parish of B., in the county aforesaid, therein to assemble and meet for religious worship, and which was then duly registered and recorded, according to the directions of the statute in such case made and provided. And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that afterwards, to wit, on the first day of June, in the year of our Lord a congregation of Protestants, dissenting from the Church of England, of which the said J. N. was then the teacher and preacher, were assembled for the public worship and service of Almighty God in the house aforesaid, so certified, registered, and recorded as aforesaid; and that J. S., J. W., and E. W. afterwards, to wit, on the day and year last aforesaid, whilst the said congregation were so assembled as aforesaid, and during divine service, unlawfully, wilfully, maliciously, and contemptuously did come into the said congregation, during divine service as aforesaid, and did then wilfully, maliciously, and contemptuously disquiet and disturb the congregation [by then talking, cursing, and swearing, with a loud voice, and also by talking with a loud voice to the said J. N., he the said J. N. then being in the pulpit], the doors of the said meeting-house and place where the said congregation were so assembled as aforesaid not being then locked, barred, or bolted; against the form [as ante, p. 465]. (2nd Count)—And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that the said J. S., J. W., and E. W. afterwards, to wit, on the day and year last aforesaid, unlawfully, wilfully, maliciously, and contemptuously did come into a certain congregation of Protestants dissenting from the Church of England, then assembled for the worship and service of Almighty God, in a certain meeting-house, and the said congregation did then unlawfully, wilfully, maliciously, and contemptuously disquiet and disturb [by talking, laughing, swearing, and cursing with a loud voice], (the said meeting-house where the said congregation were so assembled as aforesaid being then and long before certified, registered, and recorded according to the direction of the statute in such case made and provided, and the doors of the said meeting-house and place where the said congregation were so assembled not being then locked, barred, or bolted); against the form [as ante, p. 465]. [See R. v. Cheere, 4 B. & C. 902; 7 D. & Ry. 461.] Fine: 401. for each defendant (52 G. 3, c. 155, s. 12). R. v. Hube, 5 T. R. 542; 2 R. R. 669; Peake (3rd ed.), 180. 23 & 24 Vict. c. 32 (ante, p. 1025). See also Williams v. Glenister, 2 B. & C. 699. This offence may be tried at quarter sessions; 52 G. 3, c. 155, s. 12; or in the High Court of Justice (K. B. D.); R. v. Wroughton, 3 Burr. 1683; or at the assizes, if removed from the sessions by certiorari; R. v. Hube, ubi supra. Evidence. 1. Prove that the chapel or meeting-house was certified and registered as alleged in the indictment; which may be done by the clerk of the peace producing the book, etc., in which the same was registered, or by an examined or certified copy of the entry, under 14 & 15 Vict. c. 99, s. 14 (ante, p. 379). Where the chapel or meeting-house has been registered under the Places of Worship Registration Act, 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 81), the registration may be proved by the certificate mentioned in s. 11 of that Act (ante, p. 1024). 1 W. & M. c. 18, has been held to extend to a registered congregation of foreign Lutherans. R. v. Hube, ubi supra. It is immaterial whether the officiating clergyman has qualified according to the statute or not. Id. 2. Prove the disturbance as stated in the indictment. Where, in a contest for the situation of a clerk to a meeting-house, one clerk pulled the other from the desk, it was held to be a disturbance within the statute, R. v. Hube, ubi supra, although the statute was certainly intended principally to apply to persons who with violence oppose a form of worship inconsistent with their own ideas and tenets. CHAPTER III. OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE. SECT. 1. Escape, p. 1028. 2. Breach of Prison, p. 1036. 3. Rescue, p. 1038. 4. Being at Large during a Sentence of Penal Servitude, p. 1040. 6. Administering, etc., Voluntary Oaths, etc., p. 1076. 7. Embracery, p. 1077. 8. Interference with Witnesses, p. 1078. 9. Barratry, Champerty, and Maintenance, p. 1079. 10. Bribery of Public Officials, p. 1080. 11. Extortion by Public Officials, p. 1083. 12. Misconduct of Officers of Justice, p. 1085. 13. Disobeying the Orders of Justices, p. 1087. 14. Compounding Offences, p. 1088. 15. Libels reflecting on the Administration of Justice, and Contempt of Court, p. 1094. SECT. 1. ESCAPE. Common Law. "Escape" proper is where a person having a prisoner lawfully in his custody voluntarily or negligently suffers him to go at large. 1 Hale, 570; Steph. Dig. Cr. Law (6th ed.), 115. The custodian is said to be guilty of treason who voluntarily suffers the escape of a man in custody for treason; 1 Hale, 234; Steph. Dig. Cr. Law (6th ed.), 115; and to be liable as an accessory after the fact to the prisoner's crime if it be felony; 1 Hale, 235; and to be guilty of a misdemeanor if the prisoner was in custody for misdemeanor: Steph. Dig. Cr. Law (6th ed.), 115. A custodian who "negligently " allows his prisoner to escape from lawful custody is guilty of a misdemeanor. 1 Hale, 600; Steph. Dig. Cr. Law (6th ed.), 115; and see indictment, post, p. 1032. It is also an indictable misdemeanor at common law, punishable by fine and imprisonment (with or without hard labour: 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, s. 29), for a prisoner whether innocent or guilty to escape from lawful custody on a criminal charge, whether the escape is effected by force or artifice, or in consequence of neglect in the custodian, and whether it is made from gaol or in transit thereto. 2 Hawk. c. 19; 1 Hale 590; 2 Chit. Cr. L. 159: R. v. Allan, C. & Mar. 295. Persons who aid a prisoner to escape are at common law guilty as principals, or may be indicted for rescue (post, p. 1038); and see R. v. Allan, ubi supra. Statutes. 31 Edw. 3, st. 1, c. 14.]—Item, it is accorded that the escape of thieves and felons and the chattels of felons and of fugitives, and also escapes of clerks convict out of their ordinaries' prison, from henceforth to be judged before any of the King's justices shall be levied from time to time as they shall fall, as well of the time past as of the time to come. 16 G. 2, c. 31 (Prison Escape Act, 1742), s. 1-Aiding escapes.]-For the further punishment of persons who shall aid or assist prisoners to attempt to escape out of lawful custody (be it enacted, etc., that), if any person shall, from and after the 24th day of June, 1743, by any means whatsoever, be aiding or assisting to (sic) any prisoner to attempt to make his or her escape from any gaol, although no escape be actually made, in case such prisoner then was attainted or convicted of treason, or any felony, except petty larceny, or lawfully committed to or detained in any gaol for treason, or any felony, except petty larceny (see ante, p. 427), expressed in the warrant of commitment or detainer, every person so offending, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be transported to one of his Majesty's colonies or plantations in America, for the term of seven years [now penal servitude or imprisonment; see 20 & 21 Vict. c. 3; 54 & 55 Vict. c. 69, s. 1, ante, p. 235]; and in case such prisoner then was convicted of, committed to, or detained in any gaol for petty larceny, or any other crime not being treason or felony, expressed in the warrant of his or her commitment or detainer as aforesaid, or then was in gaol upon any process whatsoever for any debt, damages, costs, sum or sums of money amounting in the whole to the sum of one hundred pounds, every person so offending as aforesaid, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be deemed and adjudged to be guilty of a misdemeanor, for which he or she shall be liable to a fine and imprisonment. [As to common law liability in such cases, see 1 Russ. Cr. (6th ed.) 911.] It is difficult to say how far 16 G. 2, c. 31, ss. 1, 2, are still in force. See Mr. Greaves' note, 1 Russ. Cr. (6th ed.) 900. They were repealed by 4 G. 4, c. 64, s. 1, so far "as relates to the escape of any prisoner from any gaol or prison to which" 4 G. 4, c. 64, extended. The prisons to which 4 G. 4, c. 64, extended are stated in 2 Statutes Revised (2nd ed.), p. 160. That Act specially excepted Bethlehem, Bridewell, the King's Bench, and Fleet Prisons, the prison of the Marshalsea and Palace Courts, the Millbank Penitentiary and Gloucester Penitentiary, and vessels provided for the reception and employment of convicts sentenced to transportation; and this exception was not affected by the subsequent repeal of 4 G. 4, c. 64, by 28 & 29 Vict. c. 126, s. 73. The Millbank and Gloucester Penitentiaries and the hulks have been abolished, and convict prisons have been substituted for the hulks. As to escapes from such prisons, see post, p. 1040. The Fleet Prison and the prison of the Marshalsea and Palace Courts were abolished, and "the Queen's Prison" was substituted by 5 & 6 Vict. c. 22. That prison was discontinued and Whitecross Street Prison substituted (25 & 26 Vict. c. 104). The latter prison was discontinued in 1870 under s. 12 of the Act last mentioned, and the City Prison at Holloway was substituted as "the Queen's Prison." It had been made a valid prison by 15 & 16 Vict. c. 70, and is a local prison within 28 & 29 Vict. c. 126 (see Home Office Orders, 19th May, 1886; Statutory Rules and Orders Revised (ed. 1904), vol. 10, “tit. Prison E.,” p. 72). |