1823. Feb. 27.

Greece. J.B's Observations on particular Articles

Judiciary

Now as to the plan I would propose for a Judiciary.

1. The whole territory of the state, say on the present occasion Greece, I would divide into Judicial Districts: the number, of course, not at present determinable: each such Judicial district into Judicial sub-districts, for the demarcation of which, extent of territory and of population should conjunctly be taken into account.

For the sake of simplicity and uniformity, and for a further reason that will soon be visible, the limits of these several Judicial Districts should be the same as those of the several Election Districts, by each of which, a Member is sent to the Legislative Senate. The limits of the several Judicial Sub-districts, may perhaps be the same with those of the several Election sub-districts, into which it may be convenient that the Election districts be divided, for the purpose of collecting, at so many voting offices, the several parcels of votes, which are from thence to be transferred altogether to the Election district voting office, at which the aggregate number of the votes given in that district are collected, sorted, and counted. Whether, of any of these Judicial Sub-districts, there shall be any ulterior division into sub-sub-districts, must remain to be determined by particular local considerations. For these Judicial districts, the only source of division I should employ, is - the territorial; no such source as that which has so generally been employed, and which may be termed the logical or metaphysical: a source taken from the nature of the Judicial business done: no such division, for example as that between civil and penal suits or causes, or that between civil and ecclesiastical suits or causes between commercial and non-commercial suits or causes: no such division as that under English Law, and thence under the English-bred Law of some of the Anglo-American United States, between Law cases and Equity cases. Reason. From any such principle of division, spring two great evils: one is, needless and useless addition to the number of Judicatories: the other is, in the case of this or that suit or cause, doubt and contestation, to the cognizance of which of two or more Judicatories it appertains. To this general rule, a few exceptions, but to no very considerable extent in the aggregate, will be of necessity suggested by the peculiar circumstances in which some classes of public functionaries find themselves placed.

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