Chapter 33

THE NEW LAW COURTS

Judicial Procedure in the Olden Times--Defects and Abuses--Radical Reform--The New System--Justices of the Peace and Monthly Sessions--The Regular Tribunals--Court of Revision--Modification of the Original Plan--How Does the System Work?--Rapid Acclimatisation--The Bench--The Jury--Acquittal of Criminals Who Confess Their Crimes--Peasants, Merchants, and Nobles as Jurymen--Independence and Political Significance of the New Courts.