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Textile Manufactures (Ireland) Act, 1840
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TEXTILE MANUFACTURES (IRELAND) ACT 1840

CHAPTER XCI.

An Act for the more effectual Prevention of Frauds and Abuses committed by Weavers, Sewers, and other Persons employed in the Linen, Hempen, Union, Cotton, Silk, and Woollen Manufactures in Ireland, and for the better Payment of their Wages. [10th August 1840.]

[Preamble recites 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 27; 1 & 2 Vict. c. 52.]

[S.1 (repealing so much of 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 27 as relates to the embezzlement of materials, and to manufacturers and weavers) rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.).]

Persons convicted of pawning or embezzling any of the materials or tools herein particularized to forfeit the full value of the same with costs.

Application of forfeiture.

2. If any weaver, sewer, or any other person whatsoever, instrusted for the purpose of manufacture, or for any special purpose connected with manufacture, with any linen, hempen, cotton, silk, or woollen yarns, or any two or more of these materials mixed with each other, or any cloths made of any one or any mixture of these materials, or tools or apparatus for manufacturing the same, shall sell, pawn, purloin, embezzle, secrete, exchange, or otherwise fraudulently dispose of the same or any part thereof, he shall, upon being thereof lawfully convicted by the oath of the owner of such cloths or materials, or of any other credible witness or witnesses, before a court of petty sessions, or of quarter sessions, be liable to forfeit the full value of the same, with such costs and penalty as shall not together exceed five pounds, as the court before which the conviction shall take place shall judge to be most proper; and every such forfeiture and penalty shall be applied, under the direction of the court before which the conviction shall be, in manner following; (that is to say,) in the first place, the expences of the prosecution shall be thereout defrayed, and then such satisfaction shall be made thereout to the party injured as the said court shall think proper, and the remainder, if any, shall be applied in the same manner as any other penalty under this Act; and in default of the immediate payment, on conviction, of such forfeiture and penalty, the said person so convicted shall be imprisoned in the common gaol or house of correction, and there kept to hard labour for any time not exceeding two months, unless the amount of such forfeiture and penalty and costs be sooner paid.

Persons knowingly purchasing or receiving stolen materials or tools guilty of a misdemeanor;

3. Any person who shall purchase or take in pawn, or who in any other way shall receive into his premises or possession, linen, hempen, cotton, silk, or woollen yarns, or cloths made of any one or of any mixture of these materials, or tools or apparatus for manufacturing the same, knowing that such yarns, cloths, tools, or apparatus are embezzled, or that the persons offering the same for sale are fraudulently disposing thereof, shall, on conviction by the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses, be deemed and adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor.

as also persons knowingly selling, pawning, &c. stolen materials or tools.

4. If any person shall sell, pawn, pledge, exchange, or otherwise unlawfully dispose of, or offer to sell, pawn, pledge, exchange, or otherwise dispose of, any such materials, tools, or apparatus as aforesaid, knowing them to have been purloined or embezzled, or received from persons fraudulently disposing thereof, he shall, on conviction, be deemed and adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor.

Justice of the peace may issue his warrant for the apprehension of offenders against this Act;

and commit them for trial at the sessions.

5. On proof on oath that there is just cause to suspect that any such materials, tools, or apparatus as aforesaid have been fraudulently sold, pawned, purloined, or embezzled by the person to whom intrusted, or that any such materials, tools, or apparatus have been purchased or received, or sold, pawned, pledged, exchanged, or otherwise fraudulently disposed of, or offered for sale, pawn, pledge, exchange, or other disposal, by any person knowing the same to have been purloined or embezzled, or received from some person fraudulently disposing thereof, it shall and may be lawful for any one justice of the peace, and he is hereby required, to issue his warrant for apprehending such person, and bringing him before him or some other justice of the peace for examination; and if upon such examination the charge of having fraudulently sold, pawned, purloined, or embezzled any such materials, or of having purchased or received, or sold, pawned, pledged, exchanged, or otherwise fraudulently disposed of, or offered for sale, pawn, pledge, exchange, or other disposal, any such materials, knowing them to have been purloined or embezzled, or received from some person fraudulently disposing thereof, shall be supported by evidence to raise a strong presumption of guilt, such justice shall commit such person to the common gaol or house of correction, in order that he may be brought forward for trial at the next court of petty sessions, or of quarter sessions, unless he enter into such bail, with two solvent and sufficient sureties, as may be required for his appearance before such court: Provided always, that the prosecutor is hereby exclusively entitled to decide as to whether he shall prosecute in a summary manner at the next court of petty sessions, or otherwise.

Justice may grant search warrants;

and detain property or persons.

Persons convicted of having stolen property in their possession guilty of a misdemeanor.

6. If any credible person shall make oath before a justice of the peace, that there is a reasonable cause to suspect that any person has in his possession or on his premises any purloined or embezzled cloths, yarns, materials, tools, or apparatus, such justice is hereby authorized and required to grant his warrant to search the dwelling house and premises of such person, and, if any such property shall be found therein, to cause the same, and the person in whose possession or on whose premises the same shall be found, to be brought before him or some other justice of the peace, who is hereby authorized to order his detention until the court of petty sessions or of quarter sessions of the district, unless he enter into such bail, with two solvent and sufficient sureties, as may be required for his appearance before the said court on any day to be fixed by such justice; and if the person so apprehended shall not give an account to the satisfaction of such court how he came by the same, then the said person shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished in manner hereinafter mentioned, although no proof shall be given to whom such property belongs.

Chief constables and chiefs of police may search the premises of possessors of purloined or embezzled property without a justice’s warrant, upon emergency, &c.

7. [1] All chief constables and chiefs of police in any district in Ireland, upon receiving information that stolen or purloined and embezzled linen, hempen, cotton, silk, or woollen yarns, or cloths made of any one or any mixture of these materials, or tools or apparatus for manufacturing the same, or that such yarns or goods suspected of being stolen or purloined and embezzled, are deposited in certain specified premises, and that there is reason to apprehend that such yarns or goods will be removed before a warrant can be obtained from a justice, shall henceforth have power, by themselves or their officers, or by constables to search the said premises, and to seize such yarns or goods, and either to summon the person within whose premises the same shall be found, and who shall be bound to answer said summons under a penalty not exceeding forty pounds, or to apprehend the person within whose premises the same shall be found, and to lodge the yarns or goods so seized, and the person within whose premises the same shall be found, in a police office or other place of security, in order that he may be brought before a justice of the peace for examination, as before directed.

Officers, constables, and others to apprehend suspected persons, and to lodge them, with the property, in a police office.

Persons so apprehended and not proving that the property is honestly come by, guilty of a misdemeanor.

8. Every peace officer and constable, and every watchman duly appointed by law, during such time as he shall be on duty, shall and may apprehend or cause to be apprehended any person whom he may reasonably suspect of having or carrying, or in any way conveying, any property suspected to be purloined or embezzled, and shall lodge such person, together with the property, in a police office or other place of security, in order that they may be brought before the nearest justice of the peace as soon as convenient; who is hereby empowered to discharge such person, or to order his detention until the next court of petty sessions, or of quarter sessions of the district, unless he enter into such bail, with two solvent and sufficient sureties, as may be required for his appearance before said court on any day to be fixed by said justice; and if the person so apprehended in the act of committing any such offence as aforesaid, or conveying any such property as aforesaid, shall not produce before the said court the person duly entitled to dispose of such property, from whom he bought or received the same, or shall not give an account to the satisfaction of the said court that the property is honestly come by, then the person so apprehended shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished in manner herein-after mentioned, although no proof shall be given to whom such property belongs.

Adjournment of time for trial allowed on prisoner finding bail.

9. It shall be competent for the party accused, in all prosecutions brought under authority of this Act, to move for and obtain an adjournment of the time fixed for trial, for such a reasonable time as may appear to the court to be necessary for the party accused to produce the person duly entitled to sell, dispose of, or transmit the said property, of whom he bought or received the same, or evidence respecting the same; but the party accused and requesting such adjournment shall be detained in custody or committed to prison, unless he enter into such bail, with two solvent and sufficient sureties, as shall be required for his appearance before said court at such time and place as shall be appointed.

Penalties on persons guilty of misdemeanors in having purloined or embezzled goods, &c.

10. Any person who shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, agreeably to any of the previous sections of this Act, shall, in addition to being deprived, without compensation, of any stolen or embezzled materials or goods which shall have been found in his possession, forfeit any sum not exceeding twenty pounds for each offence, together with costs, if tried in a summary manner before a court of petty sessions; or shall forfeit any sum not exceeding forty pounds, together with costs, if tried before a court of quarter sessions; one moiety of the said penalty to be given to the informer, the other to be applied in the same manner as any other penalty under this Act; and in default of the immediate payment, on conviction, of such penalty and costs, the person so found guilty shall, if the trial has been conducted in a summary manner, be imprisoned in the common gaol or house of correction, and kept to hard labour, for any term not exceeding three months; and if the trial has been conducted at a court of quarter sessions, he shall be imprisoned in the common gaol or house of correction, and there kept to hard labour, for any term not exceeding six months, as the court in the sentence of condemnation shall fix and determine: Provided always, that in each of the cases aforesaid the person imprisoned shall be released upon payment of the amount of the penalty and costs to which he has been sentenced.

How property which has been seized, and is unclaimed or confiscated, shall be disposed of.

11. Where no proof shall be given at the time of conviction of the ownership of property found in the possession of a person convicted under this Act, the justices shall cause the property so found to be deposited in some safe place for any time not exceeding thirty days, and shall order an advertisement to be inserted in one or more of the public newspapers of the town or city nearest the place where the same was found, and shall cause notice to be given, if in a town or city, by some public crier, and by fixing a printed notice on some public place, describing such property and where the same may be inspected; and in case any person shall prove his own or his employer’s ownership or property therein, upon oath, to the satisfaction of the justices presiding at the petty sessions of the district, restitution of such property shall be ordered to the owner thereof, after paying the reasonable cost of removing, depositing, advertising, and giving notice of the same; but if no ownership be proved to such property, the justices presiding at the court of petty sessions of the district shall, at the termination of thirty days, order such property to be sold, and after deducting the charges aforesaid, with the charges of sale, shall order the residue to be applied in the same manner as a penalty under this Act: Provided always, that if it appear to said justices that the yarns are of such a kind as, if sold in an unwrought state, would be liable to be purchased by fraudulent dealers, to be used by them as a cover for their fraudulent transactions, the said justices may order the same to be delivered to the keeper of the nearest house of correction, or some other person whom they may appoint, to be wrought up and disposed of under his inspection; the free proceeds of the same, when sold, to be applied as before directed.

[S 12 rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.)]

Owners of materials delivered to weavers. &c. to be worked up, may at all reasonable hours enter into shops or outhouses to inspect such materials.

In case of refusal the owner may apply to a justice for a search warrant.

13. [Recital.] It shall be lawful for the owner or owners of any such materials, or any other person duly authorised by him or them, from time to time, as occasion shall require, to demand leave of entrance, and enter, at all reasonable hours in the daytime, into the shops or outhouses of any person or persons employed by him or them to work up or manufacture any of the said materials, or other place or places where the work shall be carried on, and there to inspect the state and condition of such materials; and in case of refusal by any such person or persons so employed to permit such entrance of inspection, such owner or other authorized person may go before the nearest justice of the peace and make oath that such materials have been entrusted to a weaver, sewer, or other person, and that he has reasonable grounds for suspecting some loss or injury to the property so intrusted as aforesaid, as such person has refused to permit the same to be inspected; and it shall be lawful for such justice, and he is hereby required, to issue his warrant to search the dwelling house and premises of such person; and if the whole of the materials so intrusted cannot be found therein, or cannot be produced to the constable executing the warrant, such constable shall apprehend such person, and bring him before some justice of the peace, there to be examined; and if upon such examination it shall be found that such person has fraudulently sold, pawned, purloined, or embezzled, secreted, exchanged, or otherwise fraudulently disposed of any such property, he shall be liable to any of the punishments awarded for such offence under this Act; but if it shall be found that no such offence has been committed, such person shall, for so refusing to permit such entrance for reasonable inspection, forfeit any sum not exceeding ten shillings, as the justice before whom he shall be examined shall think proper, to be applied, in the first place, in defraying the expences of the prosecution, and, in the next place, as any other penalty under this Act.

Justice, &c. may grant a warrant on complaint on oath that a person has absconded or is about to abscond, &c.

14. If any manufacturer, agent, or any other person duly authorized by him, shall make oath before a justice of the peace that any such materials as aforesaid have been intrusted to a weaver, sewer, or other person, and that he has absconded, or that the deponent has just cause to suspect, and does suspect, that such person is about to abscond, it shall be lawful for such justice, and he is hereby required, to issue his warrant to apprehend such person, and bring him before him or some other justice of the peace; and if such person shall have absconded or shall not forthwith give security, to be approved of by the said justice, for the return, in a finished state, of all such materials so intrusted to him, within such time as shall be then agreed on, such justice shall, by warrant, order any constable with his assistants to enter the house of such person, and take possession of all such materials so delivered to him as aforesaid (if a warp on the beam, with the beam and mountings), and to bring the same before the said justice, when the said justice will direct the same to be delivered to the owner or other person duly authorized by him, and forthwith release the person in custody; but if all such materials are not in the house or possession of such person, or cannot be produced to such constable, such person shall be deemed and taken to have purloined or embezzled such materials, and shall be liable to any of the punishments awarded for such offence: Provided always, that the chief constable or chief of police of any district, in the absence of a justice of the peace, or where a warrant could not be procured before the offender would be enabled to effect his escape, shall have full power and authority, upon receiving information that a person has absconded or is about to abscond, as above mentioned, and that there is reason to apprehend that lie will escape before a warrant from a justice can be procured, to order any peace officer or constable to apprehend such person, and bring him before a justice of the peace, or lodge him in a police office or other place of security, in order that he may be brought before a justice of the peace.

Penalty on bringing a malicious charge before a justice.

15. Provided also, that if it shall appear to such justice that the manufacturer or agent, or other person duly authorized by him, had no foundation for suspecting that the weaver or person so intrusted would abscond, or that the charge was made from a malicious, vexatious, or improper motive, it shall be lawful for such justice to award the said weaver or person such sum of money, not exceeding ten pounds, as to such justice shall seem fit, which shall be paid by such manufacturer, agent, or person as a compensation for the injury done, and in default of payment shall be levied by distress upon such manufacturer, agent, or person’s goods.

Tickets of particulars to be given out with the work and a duplicate or copy to be kept by manufacturer and to be evidence of agreement.

16. With every warp given out by a manufacturer or agent to a weaver to be woven, there shall be delivered a note or ticket, signed by such manufacturer or agent delivering out the same, stating the length, breadth, and particular fabric and denomination of the work to be performed, the number of shots of weft under the glass which is to count out of the loom, the time in which the said work is to be finished and returned, and the price, in sterling money, agreed on for executing each yard imperial standard measure of thirty-six inches of such work in a workmanlike manner; and a duplicate of every such note or ticket, or a copy of the substantial contents of it in a weaving book, shall be made and kept by the manufacturer or agent delivering out the same; which said note or ticket, or (in case of the said note or ticket not being produced by the weaver) which said duplicate or copy of the substantial contents of it in a weaving book, in the event of a dispute between a manufacturer or agent and weaver, shall be evidence of all such matters and things mentioned therein, or respecting the same.

Manufacturers neglecting or refusing to give tickets or produce duplicates, deprived of remedy under this Act.

17. Any manufacturer or agent refusing or neglecting to give such note or ticket in the manner hereby prescribed, or not producing such duplicate or copy of the substantial contents of the same, when prosecuting a complaint against any weaver or person to whom goods have been delivered out, shall be deprived of any remedy he might otherwise be entitled to under this Act for the recovery of any property so delivered out, or for the punishment of any offender or offenders against any of the provisions thereof, in any matter or thing relating to the said property so delivered out without a ticket.

[S.18 (providing that persons not fulfilling their agreements shall on conviction forfeit any sum not exceeding two pounds and costs, and, in default of immediate payment, shall be imprisoned with hard labour for any term not exceeding one month, unless the forfeiture and costs be sooner paid) rep. 38 & 39 Vict. c. 86. s. 17.]

Persons receiving materials to be manufactured in a fictitious name, or delivering the same to any other person without the consent of the owner, &c. shall be liable to the same punishment as those not fulfilling their engagements.

19. [Recital.] If any person shall receive any of the aforesaid materials in a fictitious name in order to be manufactured; or if any person shall receive in his own name any of the said materials in order to be manufactured by himself, or on his own premises, and afterwards (without the consent of the owner thereof) deliver the same or any part thereof to any other person to be manufactured; or if any carrier or other person employed to deliver any such materials to any workman to be prepared or wrought up, shall designedly deliver the same to any person other than the person to whom such materials were ordered or intended to be delivered by the owner thereof; every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof on the oath of one or more credible witness or witnesses before a court of petty sessions, shall for every such offence be liable to the same punishment as is by the eighteenth section of this Act directed in respect to persons not fulfilling their engagements.

Justice to issue warrant to constable to take possession of property intrusted to any person committed for embezzling a part or convicted of any other offence.

20. In cases where any weaver or person shall have been committed for embezzling or illegally making away with a part of the property intrusted to him, or shall have been convicted of any other offence against any of the provisions of this Act, it shall be lawful for the justice who committed such person for embezzling or illegally making away with a part of the property intrusted to him, or for the justice presiding at the court of petty sessions before which he has been convicted for that or any other offence, and he or they is or are hereby required, to issue his or their warrant, authorizing a constable, with his assistance, to enter the house and premises of such weaver or person, and take possession of all such property so intrusted as shall be found therein (if a warp on the beam, with the beam and mountings), and to bring the same before the said justice or justices, when the said justice or justices shall direct the same to be delivered to the manufacturer, agent, or person duly authorized to receive the same.

Cloths, &c. intrusted for manufacturing not liable to seizure for rent or any other debt of the worker.

21. If any landlord or other person shall seize, carry off, or sell, by virtue of any distress warrant, execution, or other proceeding for rent in arrear or money due or alleged to be due by a weaver or worker, or on any other account whatever, any cloths, yarns, materials, or tools or apparatus for manufacturing the same, belonging to a manufacturer or agent, and intrusted by him to such weaver or worker for the purpose of manufacture, or any tools or apparatus actually employed in manufacturing such cloths or yarns, and shall refuse to restore possession of all such property to such manufacturer or agent when demanded by him, or some person duly authorized by him, on such manufacturer or agent tendering security for the return of such tools or apparatus as may not belong to him as soon as the work shall be finished, any justice of the peace, upon complaint on oath before him, shall, by notice under his hand, require such landlord or other person to restore possession of all such property so seized and carried off or sold, or the full value thereof, and in case of refusal shall issue his warrant to levy, by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of such landlord or person, the full value of the property intrusted, or, if returned without the necessary apparatus, the amount of such injury or damage as it may have sustained, together with all costs of recovering and levying the same.

Masters refusing to pay wages to workmen when due may be summoned before a court of petty sessions, &c.

22. If any manufacturer or agent employing or retaining any weaver or person shall not from time to time, on the regular appointed days and hours of attendance, pay and discharge all wages and hire as the same shall become due to any such weaver or person, such weaver or person may summon such manufacturer or agent before a court of petty sessions; and the justices presiding may hear and determine such complaint, and order immediate payment of the sum found due, together with costs for loss of time, and of recovering the same, and in default of immediate payment shall issue their warrant to levy the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of said manufacturer or agent; and the said justices, if they shall think fit, may also, by order in writing, authorize such weaver or person to return his work unfinished, in which case such weaver or person shall not be liable to the penalties awarded by this Act.

[S. 23 rep. 38 & 39 Vict. c 86, s. 17.]

Court may award costs to defendant on acquittal and impose a penalty for bringing a malicious charge.

24. It shall be lawful for any court of petty or of quarter sessions, before whom any case under this Act is tried, to award costs to the defendant in case of acquittal, to be paid by the prosecutor; and also if it shall appear to such court that the charge was made from a malicious, vexatious, or improper motive, it shall be lawful for such court to award to the defendant such further sum of money, not exceeding twenty pounds, as to such court shall seem fit, to be paid by such prosecutor as a compensation for the injury done; and in default of payment such costs and penalty shall be levied by distress upon such prosecutor’s goods.

Scale of imprisonment on summary convictions under this Act in cases not specially provided for.

25. In every case of summary conviction under this Act, not specially provided for, where the sum which shall be imposed as a penalty by a justice of the peace or a court of petty sessions, together with such wages for loss of time as may be awarded against any manufacturer or agent, and the costs, if awarded, which costs such justice or the justices presiding at the said court is and are hereby authorized to award, if he or they think fit, in any case of a conviction under this Act, shall not be paid immediately after the conviction, or where a warrant of distress shall be issued, and no sufficient distress shall be found, it shall be lawful for the convicting justice to commit the offender to the common gaol or house of correction, there to be imprisoned only, or to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour, according to the discretion of the justices, for any term not exceeding one calendar month, where the amount of the sum forfeited, or of the penalty imposed, with or without wages, together with costs, shall not exceed five pounds, and for any term not exceeding two calendar months where such amount shall exceed five pounds and shall not exceed ten pounds, and for any term not exceeding three calendar months in any other case, unless the amounts and costs be sooner paid.

Limitation of time within which proceedings must be commenced.

Justice of the district in which the work is given out to have authority to act.

26. In all cases of complaint of any offence or offences committed against the provisions of this Act complaint is to be made within four months from the commission of the same, unless the offending party may have in the meantime left the country; and in all cases where the complaint is either made by a manufacturer or agent against a weaver or worker, or by a weaver or worker against any manufacturer or agent, the nearest justice of the peace of the district in which the cloths, yarns, materials, tools, or apparatus are given out to the weaver or worker, and taken in from him, whether such weaver or worker resides within the district or county or not, shall have full power and authority and is hereby required to act when applied to; and in all such cases the court of petty sessions or of quarter sessions of the said district is hereby authorized and required to hear and determine such complaint.

One justice competent to receive information and issue warrant, &c.

Adjudication of the justices at petty sessions may be enforced by any one of such justices.

27. In all cases where by this Act any court of petty sessions or of quarter sessions is authorized and required to hear and determine any complaint, one justice of the peace shall be competent to receive the original information or complaint, and to issue the warrant to apprehend the offender and commit him to prison, in order that he may be brought forward for trial (unless he enter into such bail as may be required for his appearance at such time and place as shall be appointed), or to issue the summons requiring the parties to appear before a court of petty sessions; and after examination on oath into the merits of said complaint and the adjudication thereupon by the justices presiding at any such court of petty sessions being made, all and every the subsequent proceedings to enforce obedience thereto or otherwise, whether respecting the penalty, fine, imprisonment, costs, or matter or things relating to the offence, may be enforced by any one of the justices.

Construction of Act.

Form of indictment as to property of partners, &c.

28. In all cases under this Act, singular is to include plural, and masculine feminine; and in an indictment or information for offences against the property of partners, joint stock companies, or trustees, it shall be sufficient to lay the ownership in the name of one partner or trustee and others.

[S. 29 rep. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96. (S.L.R.)]

Appeals from summary convictions to quarter sessions.

30. In all cases of summary conviction before a justice of the peace or court of petty sessions under this Act, where the sum adjudged to be paid shall exceed two pounds, or imprisonment shall exceed one month, any person who shall think himself aggrieved by any such conviction may appeal to the next court of quarter sessions which shall be held for the county, town, or place where such conviction shall have been made, (such person, at the time of such conviction, giving to such justice, or the justices presiding at such court, notice in writing of his intention to appeal, and also entering into a recognizance at the time of such notice, with two solvent and sufficient sureties, conditioned personally to appear at the said sessions, and to try such appeal, and to abide the judgment of the court thereupon, and to pay such costs as shall by the court be awarded,) and upon such notice being given, and such recognizance being entered into, the justice or justices before whom the same shall be entered into shall liberate such person, if in custody; and the court, at such sessions, shall hear and determine the matter of the appeal, and shall make such order therein, with or without costs to either party, as to the court shall seem meet; and in case of the dismissal of the appeal, or the confirmance of the conviction, the court shall order and adjudge the offender to be punished according to the conviction, and to pay such costs, if any, as shall be awarded, and shall, if necessary, issue process for enforcing judgment.

Conviction, &c. not to be quashed for want of form or removed by certiorari.

31. No such conviction, nor adjudication made on appeal therefrom, shall be quashed for want of form, or be removed by certiorari or otherwise into any of her Majesty’s superior courts of recovery; and no warrant of commitment shall be held void by reason of any defect therein, provided it be therein alleged that the party has been convicted, and there be a good and valid conviction to sustain the same.

Limitation of actions.

General issue.

Tender of amends, &c.

32. [1] For the protection of persons acting in the execution of this Act, all actions and prosecutions for damage to be commenced against any person for any thing done in pursuance of this Act . . . shall be commenced within two calendar months after the fact committed, and not otherwise; and notice in writing of such action and of the cause thereof, shall be given to the defendant one calendar month at least before the commencement of the action; and in any such action the defendant may plead the general issue, or in case of any action of replevin may avow generally that the goods and chattels in question were taken under and by virtue of this Act, and may give this Act and the special matter in evidence at the trial to be had thereupon; and no plaintiff shall recover in any such action if tender of sufficient amends shall have been made before such action brought . . .: Provided always, that in all such actions of damages the plaintiff shall be bound to establish, not merely that damages have been suffered by him, but that the same have been wilfully and maliciously caused by the defendant.

Saving as to Acts not hereby repealed.

33. Nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be construed to extend to repeal any act or statute, or part thereof, now in force, and not repealed by this Act.

[S. 34 rep. 51 & 52 Vict. c. 57. (S.L.R.)]

Extent of Act.

35. This Act shall extend to Ireland only. . . .

[1 So much of this Act as authorizes any such chief constable or chief of police as herein mentioned to in the first instance make such seizure as herein mentioned, rep. 5 & 6 Vict. c. 68. s. 4.]

[1 Section 32 is rep. so far as it relates to plea of general issue. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 96 (S.L.R.)]