Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854

Parties complaining that reasonable Facilities for forwarding Traffic, &c. are withheld, may apply by Motion or Summons to the Superior Courts.

III. It shall be lawful for any Company or Person complaining against any such Companies or Company of anything done, or of any Omission made in Violation or Contravention of this Act, to apply in a summary Way, by Motion or Summons, in England, to Her Majesty’s Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, or in Ireland to any of Her Majesty’s Superior Courts in Dublin, or in Scotland to the Court of Session in Scotland, as the Case may be, or to any Judge of any such Court; and, upon the Certificate to Her Majesty’s Attorney General in England or Ireland, or Her Majesty’s Lord Advocate in Scotland, of the Board of Trade alleging any such Violation or Contravention of this Act by any such Companies or Company, it shall also be lawful for the said Attorney General or Lord Advocate to apply in like Manner to any such Court or Judge, and in either of such Cases it shall be lawful for such Court or Judge to hear and determine the Matter of such Complaint; and for that Purpose, if such Court or Judge shall think fit, to direct and prosecute, in such Mode and by such Engineers, Barristers, or other Persons as they shall think proper, all such Inquiries as may be deemed necessary to enable such Court or Judge to form a just Judgment on the Matter of such Complaint; and if it be made to appear to such Court or Judge on such Hearing, or on the Report of any such Person, that anything has been done or Omission made, in Violation or Contravention of this Act, by such Company or Companies, it shall be lawful for such Court or Judge to issue a Writ of Injunction or Interdict, restraining such Company or Companies from further continuing such Violation or Contravention of this Act, and enjoining Obedience to the same; and in case of Disobedience of any such Writ of Injunction or Interdict it shall be lawful for such Court or Judge to order that a Writ or Writs of Attachment, or any other Process of such Court incident or applicable to Writs of Injunction or Interdict, shall issue against any One or more of the Directors of any Company, or against any Owner, Lessee, Contractor, or other Person failing to obey such Writ of Injunction or Interdict; and such Court or Judge may also, if they or he shall think fit, make an Order directing the Payment by any One or more of such Companies of such Sum of Money as such Court or Judge shall determine, not exceeding for each Company the Sum of Two hundred Pounds for every Day, after a Day to be named in the Order, that such Company or Companies shall fail to obey such Injunction or Interdict; and such Monies shall be payable as the Court or Judge may direct, either to the Party complaining, or into Court to abide the ultimate Decision of the Court, or to Her Majesty, and Payment thereof may, without Prejudice to any other Mode of recovering the same, be enforced by Attachment or Order in the Nature of a Writ of Execution, in like Manner as if the same had been recovered by Decree or Judgment in any Superior Court at Westminster or Dublin, in England or Ireland, and in Scotland by such Diligence as is competent on an extracted Decree of the Court of Session; and in any such Proceeding as aforesaid, such Court or Judge may order and determine that all or any Costs thereof or thereon incurred shall and may be paid by or to the One Party or the other, as such Court or Judge shall think fit; and it shall be lawful for any such Engineer, Barrister, or other Person, if directed so to do by such Court or Judge, to receive Evidence on Oath relating to the Matter of any such Inquiry, and to administer such Oath.