15 Tenn. 365 | Tenn. | 1835
delivered the opinion of the court.
The first error which is assigned, is, that the motion was not made at the first term of the Davidson circuit court, after the alleged default of the plaintiff in error took place. The act of 1807, ch. 66, which authori;
These summary proceedings are in derogation of the common law; and, to be valid, it has been uniformly held, that they must be in strict accordance with the provisions of the law .by which they are authorised.
In this case, the motion was made, and the judgment rendered, at a special term, in July, 1833, and not at an adjourned sitting of the preceding term, as was the case in the Mechanic’s Bank of Alexandria vs. Witters, (6 Wheat. Rep. 106.) The regular terms of the court are held in November and May. At the May term, therefore, this motion ought to have been made; for we cannot regard the special term in July, as being parcel of, or having any connection with, the regular May term.
The judgment therefore having been obtained without notice, at a term not authorized by law, must, for that reason, be reversed. This point being decisive of the case, it is unnecessary to notice the other grounds assumed by the plaintiffs in error. It may be proper, however, to remark, that in a summary, ex parte case, like
Judgment reversed.