Records and Writs, while he shall consider the same unnecessary; provided further, that no such appointment as aforesaid shall be made by the Master of the Rolls unless with the approbation of the Lord Chancellor, nor shall any such appointment as aforesaid be made of a Clerk of Records and Writs while there shall be four or more such Clerks, nor of a Taxing Master while there shall be six or more such Masters, unless the Lord Chancellor, with such advice and consent as aforesaid, shall by any order declare such appointment to be necessary.

V. And be it enacted, That the Lord Chancellor may from time to time, with such advice and consent as aforesaid, appoint additional Taxing Masters, and the Master of the Rolls may from time to time, with such approbation as aforesaid, appoint additional Clerks of Records and Writs: Provided always, that no such additional appointment shall be made by the Master of the Rolls unless the Lord Chancellor, with such advice and consent as aforesaid, shall by any order declare such appointment to be necessary; provided further, that the number of Clerks of Records and Writs under this Act shall not at any one time exceed six, and the number of Taxing Masters under this Act shall not at any one time exceed nine. VI. And be it enacted, That in case of absence, from illness or other reasonable cause, it shall be lawful for any Clerk of Enrolments in Chancery, Clerk of Records and Writs, or Taxing Master, under this Act, to appoint a deputy, such deputy, and also the occasion for such appointment, being first approved, in the case of a Taxing Master by the Lord Chancellor, and in the other cases by the Master of the Rolls; and that in case any Clerk of Enrolments in Chancery, Clerk of Records and Writs, or Taxing Master under this Act, being absent as aforesaid, shall neglect to appoint such deputy, or to renew the appointment of a deputy, the Lord Chancellor in the case of a Taxing Master, and in the other cases the Master of the Rolls, may appoint a deputy; and every deputy to be appointed as aforesaid shall have all the powers and authorities of his principal, and shall be paid such sum out of the salary of his principal as the Lord Chancellor in the case of a Taxing Master, and in other cases the Master of the Rolls, shall direct; and during vacations the whole of the business of the following officers, (namely,) the Clerk of Enrolments in Chancery, and Clerks of Records and Writs, may be performed by such one or more of the same officers, and upon such terms, as the Master of the Rolls shall by any order direct.

VII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for every Clerk of Enrolments in Chancery, Clerk of Records and Writs, and Taxing Master under this Act, and also the Clerk of Affidavits of the Court of Chancery, to administer the oaths and take the affirmations and attestations of honour which he may from time to time be required to administer and take by any order made by the Lord Chancellor, with such advice and consent as aforesaid.

VIII. And be it enacted, That all persons swearing, affirming, or attesting before any Clerk of Enrolments in Chancery, or Clerk of Records and Writs, or Taxing Master, under this Act, or Clerk of Affidavits, shall be liable to all such penalties, punishments, and consequences, for any wilful and corrupt false swearing or perjury contained therein, as if the matter sworn, affirmed, or attested had been sworn, affirmed, or attested before the High Court of Chancery, or any of the Masters in ordinary thereof.

XXXI. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor, with such advice and consent as aforesaid, to make and issue such orders as he shall think fit, as well in relation to any matter connected with the said abolished offices, and not hereby otherwise provided for, as for carrying the provisions of this Act into execution, and also to make and issue such other rules and orders, not being inconsistent with the enactment and provisions of this Act, as he shall think fit, for the performance of the business heretofore done in the said abolished offices, and for establishing and settling the practice of the offices hereby created.

XXXII. And be it enacted, That any order or orders for the time being made under this Act may from time to time be annulled, altered, or varied by the like authority by which any such order or orders shall have been made, and new orders may from time to time be made for any of the purposes of this Act by the respective authorities by which orders are hereby authorised to be made.

6 & 7 VICT. c. 73.

An Act for consolidating and amending several of the Laws relating to Attorneys and Solicitors practising in England and Wales. [22d August, 1843.]

WHEREAS the laws relating to Attorneys and Solicitors are numerous and complicated, and it is expedient to consolidate and simplify and to alter and amend the same: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with

the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the passing of this Act the several acts and parts of acts set forth in the first part of the first schedule hereunto annexed, so far as the same relate to that part of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England and Wales, shall be and the same are hereby repealed, save only and except so far as such acts or parts of acts, or any of them, repeal the whole or any part of the same or of any other act or acts, and also save and except so far as relates to any matters or things done at any time before the passing of this Act, all which matters and things shall be and remain good, valid, and effectual, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as if this Act had not passed, and also save and except as to the recovery and application of any penalty for any offence which shall have been committed before the passing of this Act: Provided always, that nothing in this Act shall be construed to repeal or alter any of the acts or parts of acts mentioned to be saved in the second part of the first schedule hereunto annexed.

II. And be it enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act no person shall act as an Attorney or Solicitor, or as such Attorney or Solicitor sue out any writ or process, or commence, carry on, solicit, or defend any action, suit, or other proceeding, in the name of any other person or in his own name, in her Majesty's High Court of Chancery, or Courts of Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, or Exchequer, or Court of the Duchy of Lancaster, or Court of the Duchy Chamber of Lancaster at Westminster, or in any of the Courts of the Counties Palatine of Lancaster and Durham, or in the Court of Bankruptcy, or in the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, or in any county court, or in any court of civil or criminal jurisdiction, or in any other court of law or equity in that part of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England and Wales, or act as an Attorney or Solicitor in any cause, matter, or suit, civil or criminal, to be heard, tried, or determined before any justice of assize, of oyer and terminer, or gaol delivery, or at any general or quarter sessions of the peace for any county, riding, division, liberty, city, borough, or place, or before any justice or justices, or before any commissioners of her Majesty's revenue, unless such person shall have been previously to the passing of this Act admitted and enrolled and otherwise duly qualified to act as an Attorney or Solicitor under or by virtue of the laws now in force, or unless such person shall, after the passing of this

Act, be admitted and enrolled and otherwise duly qualified to act as an Attorney or Solicitor, pursuant to the directions and regulations of this Act, and unless such person shall continue to be so duly qualified and on the roll at the time of his acting in the capacity of an Attorney or Solicitor as aforesaid.

III. And be it enacted, That, except as hereinafter mentioned, no person shall, from and after the passing of this Act, be capable of being admitted and enrolled as an Attorney or Solicitor, unless such person shall have been bound by contract in writing to serve as clerk for and during the term of five years to a practising attorney or solicitor in England or Wales, and shall have duly served under such contract for and during the said term of five years, and also unless such person shall, after the expiration of the said term of five years, have been examined and sworn in the manner hereinafter directed: provided always, that any person who now is or shall hereafter be bound by contract in writing to serve as clerk to a practising Attorney or Solicitor of the Court of Common Pleas of the County Palatine of Lancaster or the Court of Pleas of the County Palatine of Durham respectively for the term of five years, and shall continue in such service for and during the said term, and shall during the whole of such term have been actually employed by such Attorney or Solicitor, or by the London agent of any such Attorney or Solicitor, or by any practising Barrister or Special Pleader, with the consent of such Attorney or Solicitor, for any part of the said term not exceeding one year, shall be admitted and enrolled an Attorney of the said last-mentioned Courts respectively as heretofore, on his satisfying the Judges for the time being of the said Courts respectively of his being qualified to act as an Attorney or Solicitor.

IV. And be it enacted, That no Attorney or Solicitor shall have more than two clerks at one and the same time who shall be bound by such contract in writing as aforesaid to serve him as clerks; and that no Attorney or Solicitor shall take, have, or retain any clerk who shall be bound by contract in writing as aforesaid after such Attorney or Solicitor shall have discontinued or left off practising as or carrying on the business of an Attorney or Solicitor, nor whilst such Attorney or Solicitor shall be retained or employed as a writer or clerk by any other Attorney or Solicitor; and service by any clerk under articles to an Attorney or Solicitor, for and during any part of the time that such Attorney or Solicitor shall be so employed as writer or clerk by any other Attorney or Solicitor, shall not be deemed or accounted as good service under such articles.

V. And be it further enacted, That in case any Attorney or Solicitor to whom any clerk shall be bound by contract in writing as aforesaid shall, before the end or determination of such contract, become bankrupt, or take the benefit of any act for the relief of insolvent debtors, or be imprisoned for debt and remain in prison for the space of twenty-one days, it shall be lawful for any of the said Courts of Law or Equity wherein such Attorney or Solicitor is admitted as aforesaid, upon the application of such clerk, to order and direct the said contract to be discharged, or assigned to such person upon such terms and in such manner as the said Court shall think fit.

VI. Provided always, and be it enacted, That any person who now is or hereafter shall be bound by contract in writing to serve as a clerk to a practising Attorney or Solicitor for the term of five years, and who shall actually and bonâ fide be and continue as pupil with and as such be employed by any practising barrister, or any person bonâ fide practising as a certificated special pleader, in England or Wales, for any part of the said term, not exceeding one whole year, and in addition thereto or instead thereof with the London agent of the Attorney or Solicitor to whom any such person shall be so bound by contract as aforesaid for any part of the said term, not exceeding one year, either by virtue of any stipulation in such contract, or with the permission of such Attorney or Solicitor, shall be capable of being examined, and sworn and admitted and enrolled as an Attorney or Solicitor, in the same manner as if he had served the whole of the said period of five years with the Attorney or Solicitor to whom he may be so bound.

VII. Provided always, and be it enacted, That any person who shall have taken or who shall take the degree of Bachelor of Arts within six years after his matriculation, or the degree of Bachelor of Laws within eight years after his matriculation, either in the University of Oxford or in the University of Cambridge, or in the University of Dublin, or in the University of Durham, or in the University of London, and who shall within four years after the day whereon he shall have taken or shall take such degree be bound by contract in writing to serve as a clerk for and during the term of three years to a practising Attorney or Solicitor in England or Wales, and shall have continued in such service for and during the said term of three years, and shall during the whole of such term have been actually employed by such Attorney or Solicitor, or by the London Agent of such Attorney or Solicitor, with his consent, for any part of the said term, not exceeding one year, in the proper business, practice, or employment of any Attorney or Solicitor,