CHAPTER XVII.

JUDGMENT ON COUNTY COURT CERTIFICATE.

By the 19 & 20 Vict. c. 108, s. 26, “Where, in any action of contract brought in a superior Court, the claim indorsed on the writ does not exceed fifty pounds, or where such claim, although it originally exceeded fifty pounds, is reduced by payment into Court payment, an admitted set-off, or otherwise to a sum not exceeding fifty pounds, a Judge of a superior Court on the application of either party, after issue joined, may, in his discretion, and on such terms as he shall think fit, order that the cause be tried in any County Court which he shall name; and thereupon the plaintiff shall lodge with the registrar of such Court such order and the issue, and the Judge of such Court shall appoint a day for the hearing of the cause, notice whereof shall be sent, by post or otherwise, by the registrar to both parties, or their attorneys; and, after such hearing, the registrar shall certify the result to the Master's office of such superior Court, and judgment in accordance with such certificate may be signed in such superior Court."

The Registrar of the County Court in which the cause was ordered to be tried having sent to the Master's Office of the Division of the High Court of Justice in which the action was commenced, his certificate of the result of the trial, the certificate is filed in the Judgment Department, and judgment may be signed in accordance therewith immediately. Scott v. Freeman, L. R. 2 Q. B. D. 177.

The certificate must state the amount (if any) for which judgment is given, and a copy of the pleadings must be filed on signing judgment. It is important to notice that the section expressly limits to £50 the amount which may be dealt with by the County Court Judge, and a certificate giving a judgment for a larger amount cannot be acted on.

When the amount indorsed on the writ originally exceeded £50, and has been reduced in any of the ways mentioned in the section, the certificate. should show a judgment for the amount in dispute only.

The result of the trial, and consequently the judgment, may be in favour either of the plaintiff or the defendant, and Form No. 25 may be adapted to either case.

CHAPTER XVIII.

JUDGMENT ON AWARD.

Besides the references to a Master, and to a County Court Judge, already mentioned, there are other cases in which judgment may be signed on the award of an arbitrator, provided a power to do so is contained in the order of reference. A cause may be referred at any stage of the proceedings, with the consent of the parties, by an order made at Chambers, or by the Judge at the Trial, or a verdict may be taken subject to a reference.

There is an entirely new kind of reference created by the Judicature Acts, that to an Official Referee; but as no judgment can be signed on his report without the authority of the Court, it need not be noticed here, but will be found under judgment by Rule of Court, post.

In the case of a reference at Chambers, by consent, the order usually contains a clause that, "unless restrained by any Rule or Order of this Court, or of a Judge of any of the Superior Courts, the Party or Parties in whose favour the

said award shall be made shall be at liberty days after service of a copy of the said Award on the other Party's Attorney or Agent to sign final judgment for any sum or sums of money found due to him or them by the said Award, and for all costs that he may be entitled to under this order, and under the said Award, together with the costs of the said Judgment;" and under this claim, judgment is signed at any time after the expiration of the time mentioned for the service of the copy of the award. Although the practice in references of this class is still governed by the Common Law Procedure Act, and is not directly affected by the Judicature Act, important modifications have arisen. Now, as formerly, the reference may be of the action alone, or of the action and all matters in difference. In the latter case, under the old practice, judgment could only be signed for the amount found due in the action, and if the award went beyond the subject matter of the action, that portion of it could only be enforced by other process, or by a fresh action. Now it is contended that the words of the order "any sum or sums of money found due to him" entitle the successful party to sign judgment for the whole of the award. The arbitrator may also find an amount to be due from the Plaintiff to the Defendant, and judgment may be signed for it. Whilst, under the old practice, the Defendant in an action could not recover damages from the

Plaintiff, he may now recover, by counterclaim, every thing he might have recovered in an original action against the Plaintiff.

When the reference is of this class, judgment may be signed in Form No. 27, which may be adapted to meet the case of a finding either for the Plaintiff or the Defendant.

When the cause is referred after coming on for Trial at Nisi Prius, without a verdict being taken, the order is similar to the preceding, and the old practice is followed with the same differences. But when a verdict is taken subject to a reference, the procedure is entirely changed. In this case, under the old practice, the Arbitrator would have been considered to be in the place of the Jury, and the postea would have been made up in accordance with his award as if it had been their Verdict, and upon that judgment would have been signed. According to the present practice although the jury may have been sworn, and a nominal verdict taken, the order of Nisi Prius generally gives the arbitrator power to direct judgment (instead of a verdict) to be entered, and upon this judgment is signed, without any certificate from the associate. In fact, in this, as in all other judgments on award, the order of reference is the authority for the judgment, and unless this is explicit, no judgment can be signed.