LAW AND THE COURTS 237

the two, offences together. Frequently the offender or his friends
have to deposit a sum of money with the court, which will be
forfeited if further offences are committed. Offenders may also
be put on probation for a period during which they must keep
in touch with the Probation Officer. His task is to acquaint
himself with their circutiistances, and keep them away from
evil influences. Finally the court may inflict punishment, within
the Ijmits mentioned above. When the accused is to be proceeded
against by indictment, there is a preliminary hearing before the
magistrates;" they dp not have to decide the question of guilt or
innocence, but only whether there is sufficient evidence to
justify committing the prisoner for trial at the Quarter Sessions,
or the Assizes.

QUARTER SESSIONS.

The Court of Quarter Sessions is composed of two or mote
of the Justices from the whole of a county; in the larger towns,
however, it is presided .over by a single paid magistrate, the
Recorder, appointed by the Home Secretary. All indictable
offences, save the most serious, can be tried here, and appeals
from the Courts of Summary Jurisdiction are heard.1 The
procedure is the same as that of the High Court. Since the High
Court has jurisdiction over both criminal and civil matters, it
will be convenient to deal first with the lower, civil courts.

COUNTY COURT.

The County Court, which deals with lesser civil actions, has
none of the antiquity of the office of J.P. In the Middle Ages
the mass of the people rarely handled money, and such rights
as they had were often at the mercy of their immediate superior
in the feudal system, or might be determined by the feudal
courts which stood outside the King's justice. But by the
middle of the I9th century the volume of small commercial
transactions had grown, and in 1846 County Courts were set
up to enable disputes arising from small debts to .be settled