|
|
Recovery of fines for non-attendance by civil bill.
|
103. It shall and may be lawful for any party at whose instance any summons or notice shall have issued, requiring the attendance of any person as a witness, or of the opposite party to be examined, when the person so summoned as a witness, or the party noticed to attend, shall not have attended in pursuance of said summons or notice, as the case may be, and shall have been fined for such non-attendance, to proceed by civil bill against such person or party for recovery of the amount of the fine so awarded, together with such expences as may have been paid to such witness in the civil bill court of the division of the county or riding in which such person or party shall reside; and the certificate, signed by the clerk of the peace of the county in which such fine had been imposed, or by his deputy, upon proof of the handwriting of such clerk of the peace or deputy, shall be conclusive evidence that the person so fined for non-attendance had been duly called in court, and did not attend, and had been fined for non-attendance in the amount stated in such certificate: Provided always, that on the hearing of such civil bill it shall and may be lawful for the assistant barrister to receive evidence on the part of the defendant in such civil bill to satisfy him the said assistant barrister that the said defendant had not been served with the summons or notice, or had not been served in sufficient time to enable him to have attended, or that there was a reasonable and just excuse for the non-attendance of the said defendant; and the assistant barrister shall be at liberty to pronounce a decree, either for the full amount of such fine or for any smaller sum, or a dismiss, and with or without costs, as he may under the circumstances think fit.
|
