The Nevada journal., 1852-04-04
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From the Nicaragua Corrsspon
ME S. F. Plea vune.

from me Nicaragua Cerrsspon 4
ME S. F. Pieayune.
| do not suppose that in any 4
boasting of free institutions, I'll
system is SO miserably defectij
this. There are three civil cour|
court of conciliation, tie court
instance, and the cosst Of apI
From the first. an appeal lies to /
ond, and from the second to the|
the decision of the third is final|
In the court of Coneiliation,|
which the Alcalde presides, the
are brought together, and an 4
made by the magistrate, or by |
appointed by him, to settle matt
icably and without further procd|
lfa settlement cannot be effect)
case is sen, on to the coart of d
stance, where i, is tried and |
feated party can then, if he sees /
ry the case to Leon, and lay itI
the court Of appeals. The expd
tending this latter move howe |
ters many from it.
The whole system of practic |
completely different from ours,
appears, at FIRST sight, to an AMI
almost incomprehensible how it |
made to work at all. The ju(
soon as elected, appoints 'DirecI
his court, and the person so apI
becomes in reality, the jndge, th3
referring every thing to him, and
guided altogether by what his D|
says. Thus, if motion be mai
Judge turns to the other with an
ring eye-''Overruled," says theI
tor 'overruled," echoes the judo
SO on to the end of the chapter. /
The jury law was repealed som|
ago, NJ that all cases are tried nd
ply before the Judge. The vii
are all examined separately. hut q
allowed to be cross-examined; ad
principals in the action, togethel
their lawyers, are turned out of
not unfrequently, while the will
examined by the Judge! The evI
is all written down. and then-str|
Of all instead of . decision beid
en-, the evidence, briefs, &c., &C.,
sent to some lawyer in Granada cd
with a request that he give his op
As he gets fee for this, he does
his opinion is confirmed by the
tor,and announced by the Judge; i
upon the farce is ended, unless d
peal be made--or, rs happens on|
very rare occasions, where pe
friendship or interest steps in, the |
on his own responsibility, and
own risk, differs from the lawyer
ion, and decides for himself; in
case, if the Court Of Appeals 1
support his decision, he is liable fol
ages.
Wretched as is the conduct Of
il case, however, that Of crimins
is infinitely worse. The good old
ciple, that a man must be cons
innocent until he is proved guilty,
actly reversed. The party ARA
always supposing him to be poo
il,) is set down as guilty, and the
whole labor Of the court is to prov
So He is fiist examined at length
not only is intimidation made use
force confession from him, but
plies to the questions proposed, ar
quently garbled and mutilated.
instance, n man accused for murt
asked, were you not at such ri,
such a day, IL passed there ca
the morning" write down." So
judge that he confesses no was /
This is no exaggeration, assur,
but a case which happened to m,
knowledge. You may see what c
of fair play the prisoner has. B
protection lies in the delay.
After the evidence, &c, has
sent to the Granadian lawyer, a
civil case, it frequently sleeps
year or more for as the lawye
no fee for his opinion in a cri
case, he will not interrupt his bu
TO give one. Before his decis
declared, the prisoner escapes
revolution frees him, or som,
turns up to keep him from being
and so he goes "unwhipped of ju.
There are not more than twcl
thirty lawyers in the State, but Il
after all, only doubtful blessin