131 Mass. 204 | Mass. | 1881
Before the enactment of the St. of 1877, c. 250, a debtor could be arrested on mesne process or execution, after the making of the affidavit required by the Gen. Sts. c. 124,
It is clear that the proceedings when an arrest is sought on the first charge specified in § 5 of the Gen. Sts. c. 124, are, under the provisions of the St. of 1877, c. 250, of a judicial nature, and involve an application to a magistrate having jurisdiction in the premises, a notice from him in the nature of a summons to the debtor, and a trial in which the debtor is compelled to be a witness, and in which either party may produce any legal and pertinent evidence. § 2. The effect of what is done at that trial, on the rights of the parties, is a matter to be judicially determined by the magistrate, who will grant or- refuse the certificate authorizing the arrest according to the conclusion which he arrives at.
The master in chancery is an officer appointed to act within a specified county, and, unless there be some statute authorizing
The arrest of the judgment debtor Cram, in the case at bar, having been made in Norfolk County, where he resided, by virtue of a certificate of a master in chancery for the county of Suffolk, granted only because Cram did not appear for examination in answer to a summons or notice issued by the master in, and returnable in, Suffolk County, was unlawful, because the master had no'jurisdiction of the debtor. The arrest being unlawful, the recognizance given by the debtor while under arrest was void, and no action can be maintained on it. McGregor v. Crane, 98 Mass. 530.
Judgment for the defendants affirmed.