Down North on the Labrador Circuit: The Court of Civil Jurisdiction 1826 to 1833
by Nina Jane Goudie


The Legal System in Labrador


In 1829 he was Acting Assistant judge of the Supreme Court and may have assisted with operation of the Court in St. John's in the fall and winter.58 To date, the background and likeness of Captain Paterson are unknown.

Via the powers vested in the Supreme Court through the judicature Act, Chief Justice Tucker developed the General Rules and Orders of the Supreme and Circuit Courts of Newfoundland, as well as the Rules of Practice and Proceedings for the Court of Civil Jurisdiction at the Labrador. The first dozen pages of records from the Labrador Court document the commissions from Governor Cochrane and Chief Justice Tucker which established a District Court in Labrador for the first time. First was a copy of Governor Cochrane's Commission to Captain Paterson.59 Henceforth Judge Paterson, he had,

... jurisdiction, power and authority to hear and determine all suits and complaints of a civil nature arising within any ports or places of the Coast of Labrador... at such places and time as the same may and ought to be held within our said Coast of Labrador...60

In a detailed letter of instruction, Cochrane also charged judge Paterson with gathering intelligence on Labrador's fishery, fur trade, Indians, Moravian settlements, and over-wintering Americans and Europeans.61 He was given a copy of the judicature Act of 1824 and a copy of the treaty with the United States. Cochrane reminded judge Paterson to be friendly “at all times” to the Americans but that should they break the law, they were to be given the “same measure of justice...as any others.”62 The Americans were probably singled out here because of the lawless manner in which they reportedly conducted themselves towards fishermen and residents.

Our Yankee cousins tried to carry things on the coast with a high hand, and many complaints of aggressions are recorded. They went so far on some occasions as to drive the Newfoundland vessels from the harbours, and tear down the British flag, hoisting the Stars and Stripes in its place. They cut away the salmon nets of the Newfoundlanders, set their own instead, and threatened to shoot anyone who interfered with them. Redress was impossible.63

In 1826 in the rented ship Indiana members of the Labrador Court sailed to Labrador for the first time. Stops included Indian Harbour, Rigolett, Mullins Cove, Tub Harbour, Dumplen Island, Indian Tickle, Cape St. Frances, Cape Charles, Henly Harbour and Chateaux Bay.64 The Clerk and Sheriff, James Blaikie and William Dickson, had been sworn in just prior to sailing from St. John's. They, along with Judge Paterson and two constables — Thomas Morton and Robert Andrews — comprised the five officers of the Court. The needs on the coast occupied these men from June to September — about four months a year.65

As shown in Table 1 (page 22), in its first year the Labrador Court cost colonial coffers about £839. A good portion of this expense went towards hire of the vessel; the balance was associated with officers' salaries. The Clerk and Sheriff of the Court earned £100 each, the constables £26 each. For his stint on the Labrador, Judge Paterson was paid £350, one-half the annual wage. Court officers' salaries may have been prorated from annual amounts as well. Records indicated a salary of £100 per year in one instance and £200 per year in another. Presumably the constables were hired just prior to leaving St. John's. The £26 they were paid may have represented a quarter year's salary and may have been in addition to salary received through other employment in St. John's.66

Court officers were also given a per diem allowance for meals and incidentals of 20 shillings per person per day. Judge Paterson was allowed about half of this, just over 10 shillings per day, owing to the fact that he was still on half salary from the Royal Navy.67 Concerns over costs surfaced increasingly in correspondence with London. Apparently Paterson's salary was the only expense accounted for in the estimates for expenditures on Labrador. The General Account Current for 1826 noted, “none of the payments in this account were included in the annual estimate provided for by Parliament,” although “the whole of the expenses were unavoidably incurred in consequence of the new system of Judicature introduced by the late Judicature Act.”68 This oversight could have been Newfoundland's but it highlights the inherent frustration of a remote government approving budgets for a country they barely know. England may have requested that Governor Cochrane reduce some salaries because the records contain much discussion on this. In one letter Cochrane replied that he did not know “one [person] whose salary is commensurate to the duties he has to perform.”69 As was the case with the court system on the island, fees received for administrating Labrador's small volume of writs did little to defray expenses.

Table No. 1
Costs of the Labrador Court, 1826
Detail
Costs not included in annual estimate


Clerk of the Labrador Court, John Blaikie
Sheriff, William Dickson
Constables, Thomas morton and Robert Andrews
Table expenses of the Judge and Officers
Hire of the Brig Indiana, 2 months, 2 days
Sub-total:

Costs included in annual estimate
Judge of the Labrador Court (July - Dec) 1/2 of £700
Total:
Expense


£100
£100
£52
£62
£175.14.8
£489.14.8


£350
~ £839.14.8

Source: Board of Trade. General Account Current for present year (from Governor Cochrane to Lord Bathurst) 27 November 1826, CO-194, 1826, pp. 344-345.

In 1827, William Paterson and George Simms, who had taken over from Blaikie as Clerk, were also made justices of the Peace for Labrador for the Courts of General and Quarter Sessions (known as Court of Sessions) which sat from 1827 through 1832. Through the Judicature Act, the Governor had the power to institute this Court as he saw fit. Whereas the commission instituting the Court of Civil Jurisdiction limited the Court's authority to suits of a civil nature, the commission for the Court of Sessions broadened the powers of the Labrador Court to include complaints concerning the fishery (supply of bait, hiring of boats, wages, employee-employer relationships), fishermen who deserted their employer, liquor licenses and minor criminal matters. The commission also gave Paterson and Simms authority to imprison offenders. During the winter, inhabitants and planters duly appointed by the Court would act as “Constables and other Ministers of the Peace as may be necessary for the preserving the peace and quiet of our subjects.”70 This feature was reminiscent of the now defunct surrogate system. Noteworthy is that the Court of Sessions was instituted in 1827, a year after the Court of Civil Jurisdiction. Presumably during the court's first year of operation the need to broaden the court's jurisdiction was recognized and requested. It is unclear whether local constables or Justices of the Peace were appointed in Labrador but clearly the court felt a need to broaden its terms of reference.

Records for the Court of Sessions were maintained in a separate volume than the Court of Civil Jurisdiction. It listed the liquor licenses granted each year and noted the details of several special cases handled by the Court. These included an inquisition into the drowning of seamen (noted above), an enquiry into the appropriate quantity of provisions that should be supplied to servants, a civil marriage ceremony and investigations of murder. The Court of Sessions book contained intelligence on the fishery as requested by Governor Cochrane: the number of vessels in port, principal firms operating on the coast and the general success of the fishery in a given year.71 This aspect of the Labrador Court was not specifically referenced in reports and probably was considered part of its informal naval responsibilities.

The Rules of Practice and Proceedings for the Court of Civil jurisdiction at the Labrador were not as extensive as the General Rules and Orders of the Circuit Courts: nine rules for the Labrador Court versus 40 for the Circuit Courts. Per section 18 of the Judicature Act Chief Justice Tucker developed them specifically for the Labrador Court. The Rules covered the litigation process (No. 1), attachment of goods (No. 2), foreign attachment of goods (No. 3), subpoena of witnesses (No. 4), limitations on the hearing of disputes (No. 5), evidence (No. 6), judgment by default (No. 7), court fees (No. 8) and execution of process against defendants (No. 9). Form templates for summonses, attachments, subpoenas and executions were also developed.72 Paterson's non-legal background may explain the simplified language used in the Rules for the Labrador Court. A comparison of Rule No. 1 with that of the Supreme and Circuit Courts demonstrates:

Rule No. 1, Supreme Court and Circuit Court

Where the debt, or other cause of action, shall not exceed the sum of ten pounds sterling, the plaintiff may commence his suit by a summons, which, without making any distinction as to the form of action, will command the defendant generally to pay to the plaintiff the sum demanded by him, or otherwise to appear in Court, on a given day, to show cause why he will not do it. The proceedings in all cases which shall be commenced in this manner will be altogether summary; and the Court will endeavour to regulate its judgment by those principles of natural equity which will afford the most substantial justice to the parties litigant.73

Rule No. 1, Labrador Court

In all cases the plaintiff may commence his suit by a summons which will command the defendant generally to pay to the plaintiff the sum demanded by him, or otherwise to appear in the Court on a given day to show cause why he will not do it. Upon the appearance of the parties the Judge will hear the complaint of the plaintiff and then examine, upon oath, such witnesses as he may produce in support of it. The defendant will afterwards be called on to make his defence, and will, in like manner, be permitted to substantiate it by evidence upon oath. The material facts, and real merits of the case being thus made known to the Judge he will, upon due consideration thereof, pronounce such judgment, or decree, as shall seem to him best calculated to render substantial justice to the parties.74
Fish Flakes
Fish Drying Flakes, artist unknown, ca. 1885.

From Charles de Volpi, Newfoundland: a Pictorial Record (Sherbrooke, Quebec: Longman Canada Limited, ©1972) 178.
Larger Version with more information (170 kb).
Fish Drying Flakes, artist unknown, ca. 1885








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