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The organization of the courts of justice of the province was left by the commission to General Murray as a subject for local legislation, and a general direction was given in the instructions that the judicial establishment of the older colony of Nova Scotia should be followed as far as circumstances would permit. Accordingly one of the first questions to occupy the attention of Murray and his council was the constitution of the courts. The attorney-general prepared a report containing a survey of the judicial system of Nova Scotia, and on September 17, 1764, an ordinance was passed by the governor and council establishing courts and regulating the administration of justice throughout the province.

For judicial purposes the province was divided in 1764 into the districts of Quebec and Montreal, separated, on the south side of the St Lawrence, by the River Godfroy, and on the north by the River St Maurice. The influx of loyalists and the settlement of the districts bordering the Upper St Lawrence and the Great Lakes rendered necessary the creation of new districts, and accordingly, in 1788, the districts of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse were formed in the region which was later to become Upper Canada, and the district of Gaspe was separated from Quebec.

The ordinance of 1764 established two main courts—the Court of Superior and the Court of Inferior Judicature. In this division both civil and criminal jurisdiction were combined in certain particular courts. In 1777, however, a sharp distinction was drawn, and the criminal courts became entirely separate from those of civil jurisdiction.

The Superior Court, or Court of King’s Bench, was composed of the chief justice of the province, or, according to provision made in 1777, in his absence of commissioners appointed to execute the office of chief justice. As originally constituted it was given authority ‘to hear and determine all criminal and civil causes, agreeable to the Laws of England, and to the Ordinances of the Province.’^[1] Its civil jurisdiction brought it into conflict with the Court of Common Pleas, and after 1777 the Court of King’s Bench took cognizance of criminal cases only. Originally the court sat twice annually at Quebec; a third term was added in 1766, while later it met twice in the year in both Quebec and Montreal. At least once in the year, and more frequently if necessary, the chief justice held Courts of Assize and Gaol Delivery in Montreal and Three Rivers.

Next in importance as a court of criminal jurisdiction was the Quarter Sessions. The office of Justice of the Peace, so important in the British judicial system, was introduced by the ordinance of 1764. Justices of the peace were appointed by the governor for each district, and at first were granted both criminal and civil jurisdiction, but in 1770 their authority was confined to criminal cases. The Court of Quarter Sessions, by hearing and determining all minor criminal cases, became a most important factor in preserving the peace of the community.

The Court of Common Pleas was the important court for the trial of civil cases. Originally a single Court of Common Pleas existed for the entire province, but with the reform of 1770 separate courts were constituted for each of the districts of Montreal and Quebec, consisting of three judges appointed by the governor. A single judge in weekly sittings determined finally all cases of £10 and under. Two judges of the Court of Common Pleas were competent to hear cases in excess of £10, and their decisions were subject to appeal.

The manner of conducting trials in the Court of Common Pleas was the subject of much controversy. The ordinance of 1764 directed the judges ‘to determine agreeable to Equity, having regard nevertheless to the Laws of England as far as the Circumstances and present Situation of Things will admit.’ The Quebec Act definitely introduced the laws of Canada in most cases coming before the Courts of Common Pleas. The original constitution of the court made trial by jury compulsory if demanded by either party; this provision was, however, omitted from the ordinance reconstituting the court in 1777. In 1785 the British element in the council succeeded in securing trial by jury at the option of either party in mercantile cases or in cases of personal wrongs in which compensation was sought.

The supreme court of civil jurisdiction was the Court of Appeals, composed of the governor and council of the province. Originally its jurisdiction was confined to cases in which the amount at issue exceeded £300. The enlargement of the council by the Quebec Act made necessary a more definite constitution of the court, so that from 1777 it consisted of the governor, lieutenant-governor or chief justice of the province, together with any five members of the council, the judges who had sat in the lower court excepted. Its jurisdiction was also extended to cases in which the amount involved exceeded £10 and to all civil cases in which future rights were bound. In all cases in which future rights were concerned, and in other cases involving £500, an appeal rested from the provincial Court of Appeals to His Majesty in Council.

[1]	Ordinance of 1764: Constitutional Documents, 1759-91, Shortt and Doughty, p. 149.