Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1802).djvu/195

Rh value of ten pounds ſterling, or concern the title or bounds of lands, an appeal lies to one of the ſuperior courts.

There are three ſuperior courts, to wit, the high-court of chancery, the general court, and the court of admiralty. The firſt and ſecond of theſe receive appeals from the county courts, and alſo have original juriſdiction, where the ſubject of controverſy is of the value of ten pounds ſterling, or where it concerns the title or bounds of land. The juriſdiction of the admiralty is original altoget h er. The high court of chancery is compoſed of three judges, the general court of five, and the court of admiralty of three. The two firſt hold their ſeſſions at Richmond at ſtated times, the chancery twice in the year, and the general court twice for buſineſs civil and criminal, and twice more for criminal only. The court of admiralty ſits at Williamſburgh whenever a controverſy ariſes.

There is one ſupreme court, called the court of appeals, compoſed of the judges of the three ſuperior courts, aſſembling twice a year at ſtated times at Richmond. This court receives appeals in all civil caſes from each of the ſuperior courts, and determines them finally. But it has no original juriſdiction.

If a controverſy ariſe between two foreigners of a nation in alliance with the United States, it is decided by the conſul for their ſtate, or, if both parties chuſe it, by the ordinary courts of juſtice. If one of the parties only be ſuch a foreigner, it is triable before the courts of juſtice of the country. But if it ſhall have been inſtituted in a county court, the foreigner may remove it into the general court, or court of chancery, who are to