As of 1657 persons living extravagantly without visible estate or
calling may be made by Justices of the Peace to acquire sureties
for good behavior or go to gaol. They would also be sent to the
house of correction to work for three months for the first offense
and for a time specified by the Justice of the Peace for the
second offense.
Anyone winning at betting or playing at cards, dice, tennis, and
horse races shall forfeit double his winnings.
Excluded from pardon were buggery with man [sodomy] or animal
[bestiality], carnal ravishment of women, and bigamy.
Drunkenness was much punished.
Husbands were responsible for their wives' oaths and fathers for
their daughters'.
- Judicial Procedure -
The Protector is the supreme magistrate of the Commonwealth, with
power to pardon all crimes, except murder and treason.
Parliament was no longer a court.
Use of the torture was proscribed in 1649.
In 1652, the justices were given a salary of 1,000 pounds and
forbidden to take fees or rewards. They also got tenure, thus
freeing them from government pressure. Now civil justice was
honestly dispensed and justices were learned and honest.
The jurisdiction of Admiralty court was defined to include: ships
and vessels with tackle, apparel and furniture thereof; repairing,
victualling, and furnishing provisions of ships and vessels for
sea; all cases of bottomry [ship-owner indemnified if the vessel
were lost, but paid over a substantial share of the profits if it
reached its destination safely], contracts beyond the seas
concerning shipping or navigation; charter, parties, contracts for
freight; bills of lading; mariners wages; damage of goods on board
ships; and damage by one ship to another including by anchors or
want of laying buoys.
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