Imperial Court

“ You should not hesitate and keep on speculating, opportunity will be missed, resulting in the downfall of the Imperial Court, the finale would just be unthinkable. It is important that all the viceroys should combine forces, to prevent formation of dangerous outcome. ”

“ The rumors of a general negotiation subside, owing it is said to the obstinacy of Great Britain, and the demands of this Court. The Imperial Minister has just received a courier from his Court, charged with its excuses for the detention of a Spanish courier, who after delivering his despatches to the Spanish Ambassador at Vienna, on his journey from thence to Petersburg, was stopped in Hungary, and not permitted to proceed until released by order of the Imperial Court. The Imperial Minister named to the Court of Berlin from hence, will soon go thither; his nomination is still a secret. ”

“ A supreme jurisdiction over the Imperial States was gradually and skilfully usurped by a private imperial tribunal, the Aulic Council in Vienna, a court at first intended merely to advise the Emperor in the exercise of his undoubted, imperial, and personal prerogatives; a court, whose members being appointed and paid by him, had no law but the interest of their master, and no standard of equity but the advancement of the unreformed religion of which they were partisans. ”

“ Every court, in the first place, as well in Victoria as elsewhere throughout the British dominions, is bound to hold void, and in fact does hold void, enactments which contravene an Imperial statute, and from Colonial courts there is an appeal to the Privy Council. ”

“ To remove all pretext for private war, the Imperial Chamber was to be reorganised. The Emperor was to retain the right of nominating the President, the sixteen Assessors were to be elected by the Diet. The court was not to follow the Emperor, but was to have a fixed place of session, and was to be supported by imperial taxation. It was to have supreme jurisdiction in all cases arising between states of the Empire, and to hear appeals on all causes arising in their courts, except where the Prince enjoyed the privilegium de non appellando ”

“ The Sapphire
The first question raised is as to the right of the French Emperor to sue in our courts. On this point not the slightest difficulty exists. A foreign sovereign, as well as any other foreign person, who has a demand of a civil nature against any person here, may prosecute it in our courts. To deny him this privilege would manifest a want of comity and friendly feeling. Such a suit was sustained a want of comity and King of Spain in the third circuit by Justice Washington and Judge Peters in 1810. ”

“ It is obvious, that the law of nations would, in some instances, from the rule of decision; in others, such as civil causes arising out of contract, and questions of property, the laws of the several States would form the rule; but in what manner the jurisdiction of the national Courts is to be exercised in prosecutions against consuls for offences not declared penal by any act of Congress, is a subject on which a great contrariety of opinions has prevailed. ”

“ Presumption as to documents produced as records of evidence Whenever any document is produced before any Court, purporting to be a record or memorandum of the evidence, or of any part of the evidence, given by a witness in a judicial proceeding or before any officer authorized by law to take such evidence or to be statement or confession by any prisoner or accused person taken in accordance with law, and purporting to be signed by any Judge or Magistrate, or by any such officer as aforesaid, the Court shall presume that the document is genuine ”

“ Relevancy of certain judgments in probate etc., jurisdiction A final judgment, order or decree of a Competent Court, in exercise of probate, matrimonial, admiralty or insolvency jurisdiction, which confers upon or to take away from any person any legal character, or which declares any person to be entitled to any such character, or to be entitled to any specific thing not as against any specified person but absolutely, is relevant when the existence of any legal character, or the title of any such person to any such thing, is relevant. ”

“ It is out of the question that a citizen of one of the German states, charged with being a fugitive from its justice, should be permitted to call on the courts of this country to adjudicate the correctness of the conclusions of the Empire as to its powers and the powers of its members, and especially as the Executive Department of our government has accepted these conclusions and proceeded accordingly. ”

“ No, Let us rouse our attention to the common law—which is our birthright, our great security against all kinds of insult and oppression. . . . [49] Colonials had also seen the right to trial by jury subverted by acts of Parliament which authorized courts of admiralty to try alleged violations of the unpopular [p29] "Molasses" and "Navigation" Acts. [50] This gave the admiralty courts jurisdiction over offenses historically triable only by a jury in a court of law, and aroused great resentment throughout the colonies. ”

“ By the common law, justices of the peace had some criminal jurisdiction, but no jurisdiction whatever of suits between man and man. There were in England, however, courts baron, county courts, courts of conscience, and other petty courts, which were not courts of record, and whose proceedings varied in many respects from the course of the common law, but which were empowered to hear and determine, in a summary way, without a jury, personal actions in which the debt or damages demanded did not exceed 40 shillings. ”

“ The treaty with Great Britain is equally binding on us as the act of Congress, and it likewise confers jurisdiction and authority on the judges and magistrates of the respective governments, to issue warrants for the apprehension of fugitives; and for hearing and considering the evidence produced against them; and also provides, that the committing magistrate shall certify as to the sufficiency of the evidence, to the executive authority, so that a warrant of surrender may issue. ”

“ A long line of judicial decisions in the several states, beginning early in this century, maintains the position that the constitutional right of trial by jury in civil actions is not infringed by a statute which sets the pecuniary limit of the jurisdiction of justices of the peace in actions at law higher than it was when the particular constitution was adopted, allows a trial by jury for the first time upon appeal from the judgment of the justice of the peace, and requires of the appellant a bond, with surety, to prosecute the appeal, and to pay the judgment of the appellate court. ”

“ Procedure of Court in case of question being asked without reasonable grounds If the court is of opinion that any such question asked was without reasonable grounds, it may, if it was asked by any barrister, pleader, vakil or attorney report the circumstances of the case to the High court or other authority to which barrister, pleader, vakil or attorney is subject in the exercise of his profession. ”

“ The burden of proof as to any particular fact lies on that person who wishes the Court to believe in its existence, unless it is provided by any law that the proof of that fact shall lie on any particular person. ”

“ If the foreign law is a penal statute, or if it offends our own policy, or is repugnant to justice or to good morals, or is calculated to injure this state or its citizens, or if we have not jurisdiction of parties who must be brought in to enable us to give a satisfactory remedy, or if, under our forms of procedure, an action here cannot give a substantial remedy, we are at liberty to decline jurisdiction.' 155 Mass. ”

“ If the constitution of the court is not known, it will be presumed to be legal. If known, and is not according to what is usual among civilized nations, it must be proved to have been enacted by competent authority. The erection of a court is the act of the sovereign; nothing is to be presumed in favour of a court erected by a military commander. ”

“ Confidential communication with Legal Advisers No one shall be compelled to disclose to the Court any confidential communication which has taken place between him and his legal professional adviser, unless he offers himself as a witness in which case he may be compelled to disclose any such communication as may appear to the Court necessary to be known in order to explain any evidence which he has give, but not others. ”

“ Undoubtedly, it would be competent for Congress to do, in cases like this, what it has done in a class of cases somewhat analogous. By the act of August 29, 1842, (5 Stat. at Large, 539,) when the subject of a foreign government is imprisoned for an act done under the authority of that government, and a writ of habeas corpus is issued by a Judge of this court, or by a District Judge, an appeal to the Circuit Court, and from its order to this court, is expressly given. ”

“ The State cannot be sued in its own Courts; but if it commences a suit there against a citizen, and a question arises in that suit under the constitution, laws, and treaties of the Union, there must be power in this Court to revise the decision of the State Court, in order to produce uniformity in the construction of the Constitution, &c. So, if a consul sues in the Circuit Court, this Court has appellate jurisdiction, although the consul could not be sued in the Circuit Court. ”

“ The Vehmic judgments were, however, liable to be appealed against: the accused might, at the sitting, appeal either to what was termed the imperial chamber, a general chapter of the association, which assembled at Dortmund, or (and this was the more frequent custom) to the emperor, or ruler of the country, whether he were king, prince, duke, or bishop, provided that these authorities belonged to the association. The revision of the judgment could only be entrusted to members of the tribunal, who, in their turn, could only act in Westphalia. ”

“ In most civilized nations there is a recognized form of proceeding by which a judgment of a foreign court, fairly rendered after giving a proper opportunity to the defendant for a hearing, can be enforced by process from a domestic tribunal. This is styled making the foreign judgment executory. The English common law did not recognize such a right, and gave no remedy to one desiring to enforce a foreign judgment, except that of bringing a fresh suit. ”

“ To give force to this condemnation, is, in fact, to call on this Court to enforce the decree of a foreign Court. A Court, thus called on, always claims the privilege of examining into the jurisdiction of the Court pronouncing the decree, the regularity of its judicial proceedings, and the intended extent of its operation.
It cannot be denied, that if a privateer, or even a public vessel of war, of a foreign power, be fitted out in our ports, her commission can protect neither her nor her prizes from the sanctions of our law. ”

“ But the Court shall also have regard to such facts as the following, in considering whether such maxims do or do not apply to the particular case before it -
As to illustration (a) —A shop-keeper has in his till a marked rupee soon after it was stolen, and cannot account for its possession specifically, but is continually receiving rupees in the course of his business;
As to illustration (b) —A, a person of the highest character, is tried for causing a man’s death by an act of negligence in arranging certain machinery. ”

“ Provided that the opinion of experts expressed in any treatise commonly offered for sale, and the grounds on which such opinions are held, may be proved by the production of such treatise if the author is dead or cannot be found or has become incapable of giving evidence or cannot be called as a witness without an amount of delay or expense which the Court regards as unreasonable. ”

“ Questions tending to corroborate evidence of relevant fact, admissible When a witness whom it is intended to corroborate gives evidence of any relevant fact, he may be questioned as to any other circumstances which he observed at or near to the time or place at which such relevant fact occurred, if the Court is of opinion that such circumstances, if proved, would corroborate the testimony of the witness as to the relevant fat which he testifies. ”

“ Every extension of military jurisdiction is an encroachment on the jurisdiction of the civil courts, and, more important, acts as a deprivation of the right to jury trial and of other treasured constitutional protections. Having run up against the steadfast bulwark of the Bill of Rights, the Necessary and Proper Clause cannot extend the scope of Clause 14. ”

“ A barrister is instructed by an attorney or vakil that an important witness is a dakait. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dakait.
(b) A pleader is informed by a person in court that an important witness is a dakait. The informant, on being questioned by the pleader, gives satisfactory reasons for his statement. This is a reasonable ground for asking the witness whether he is a dakait.
(c) A witness, of whom nothing whatever is known, being questioned as to his mode of life and means of living gives unsatisfactory answer. ”

“ If the fact proposed to be proved is one of which evidence is admissible only upon proof of some other fact, such last-mentioned fact must be proved before evidence is given of the fact first mentioned, unless the party undertakes to give proof of such fact and the Court is satisfied with such undertaking. ”

“ Rules as to notice to produce Secondary evidence of the contents of the documents referred to in Section 65, Clause (a) , shall not be given unless the party proposing to give such secondary evidence has previously given to the party in whose possession or power the document is, or to his attorney or pleader such notice to produce it as is prescribed by law; and if no notice is prescribed by law, then such notice as the Court considers reasonable under the circumstances of the case ”