On Civil Liberty and Self-Government
of civil justice.
19th Century Theodore Dwight Woolsey EnglishThe civil and penal code is the same for the whole republic.
No encroachment can be made upon the right of citizens to have their matters in dispute decided on by arbitrators of their own choice.
The decision of these arbitrators is final, unless the citizens have reserved the right of protesting.
There shall be justices of the peace, chosen by the citizens of the districts, appointed by law.
They shall conciliate and hold court without fees.
Their number and extent of power shall be established by the legislative body.
There shall be public judges of arbitration, who are chosen by electoral assemblies.
Their number and districts are fixed by the legislative body.
They shall decide on matters in controversy, which have not been brought to a final decision by private arbitrators or by the justices of the peace.
They shall deliberate publicly. They shall vote with loud voice.
They shall decide in the last resort on oral pleadings, or on a simple petition, without legal forms and without cost. They shall assign the reasons of their decisions.
- The justices of the peace and the public arbitrators are chosen annually.