Y Cymmrodor. v. XIV. 1901.

2 6 Enplish Law in Wales and the Marches.
year, in Rex v. Lewis et al.,
it was decided that a certiorari
lies to move an indictment from the Glamorgan Quarter
Sessions per saltum to the King's Bench, without going
through the Great Sessions. Lord Mansfield, in his judgment
in Mostyn v. Fabrigas, a case before alluded to, said:
" If an action is brought here for a matter arising in
Wales, you must show the jurisdiction
of the Court in
Wales. If there is no other mode of trial, that will give
the King's Court jurisdiction." The Courts of Westminster
were much sought after by Welsh litigants, who
preferred them in important matters to the local tribunal,
but they were also largely used in small matters where the
plaintiff
entered his action to be tried in the nearest
English county. In 1773, by the 13 George III, cap. 51,
entitled " An Actto discourage the practice of commencing
frivolous and vexatious suits in his Majesty's Courts at
Westminster in causes of action arising
within the
Dominion of Wales, and for further regulating the proceedings
in the Courts of Great Session in Wales," the
defendant in such an action tried at the assizes in the
next English county was entitled to judgment if the
plaintiff did not recover £10 debt or damages. This Act,
which has been called " the Welsh Judicature Act", contamed
various regulations as to the deputies of the Welsh
judges, the striking of juries, the return of original writs,
and other matters. It also empowered the judges of
Great Sessions to apj>oint commissioners to take affidavits
to be used in their courts, and to nominate persons (other
than common attorneys or solicitors) to take recognizance
of bail ; it also provided that certain penalties, given by
statute and directed to be-recovered in the courts of West-
minster, should be recoverable at the Great Sessions.
But notwithstanding this Act, efforts were still made
to reform or abolish the Welsh Judicature, the reason of