First National Bank v. Beresford

Citations

• 78 Ill. 391

Syllabus

<p>1. Justice of the peace —practice in courts of. Under the practice which has existed, for many years, in justices’ courts, it is the duty of the justice to hold a case open one hour after the time named in the summons for a defendant to appear, hut he is not required to wait longer before rendering judgment. At the expiration of the hour, it is his duty to call and dispose of the case, and the presumption is, that he does so.</p> <p>2. Certiorari—under the statute. The facts required by the statute, to authorize a writ of certiorari to remove a cause from a justice of the peace to the circuit court, must be shown by the petition, not merely alleged as a conclusion of the party.</p> <p>3. A petition for a writ of certiorari stated that the defendant appeared at the office of the justice of the peace two hours after the time he was required by the summons to appear, and was then informed by a clerk of thejustice that no judgment had been rendered against him, and that none could be rendered after that time: Held, that a clerk of a justice of the peace is an officer unknown to the law, and, if a party acts upon information obtained from that source, it will be at his peril.</p> <p>4. Where the petition states that the petitioner appeared after the time he was required by law to do so, and was informed by a clerk of the justice that no judgment had been rendered, and this statement is followed by an allegation that the judgment was afterwards rendered, this allegation is but a conclusion of the party based upon such information, and is not sufficient to show that the judgment before the justice was not the result of his own negligence.</p> <p>5. If the petition had stated that he examined the docket and found no judgment, and based the allegation that the judgment was rendered afterwards, upon that fact, the averment would have been good.</p>