No. 79

I have the honor to forward to Your Lordship, an authenticated,
and two plain copies of an Ordinance passed by the Legislative
Council entitled,

An Ordinance to alter and amend the County Court Ordinance 1867.

2. The Attorney General's Report is annexed.

3. I regard the provisions of the measure as judicious. A very
extensive jurisdiction is confided by the original ordinance to
the County Court Judges, who are the Stipendiary Magistrates in
the several Districts, and who are not members of the legal
Profession. In cases where the amounts in dispute are above the
sum of £10, it is desirable that the litigants should have
opportunity for obtaining the decision of a higher Court, and a
duly qualified Judge. The power may not often be used, but the
fact of its existence will tend to remove some dissatisfaction
which has arisen with regard to the action of the County Courts.