Chap. 436.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 2939, as amended by an ac
approved’ March 3, 1892; section 2956 and section 2957, as amended by an av
approved March 1, 1894, of the Code of Virginia, and to repeal an act entitle
“an act to provide that if the plaintiff in a warrant upon a contract of suc
nature that an action of assumpsit would lie on same shall have served wit
the warrant a copy of this account, verified by affidavit, he shal] have judgmen
for the amount of the said account, unless the defendant shall deny under oat
that the account is due; and if the defendant deny only a part of the account!
he shall have judgment as to the residue, and the case be tried as to the part s
denied,” approved March 1, 1898; and also to repeal an act entitled “an act t
provide how appeals from justice and warrants removed shall be tried, an
how defects, omissions, and irregularities in the proceedings below may be coi
rected in the court to which the appeal is taken or the warrant removed,” ay
proved February 27, 1894.

Approved December 12, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sectio
twenty-nine hundred and thirty-nine, as amended by an act approve
March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-two; section twenty-nine hur
dred and fifty-six, and section’ twenty-nine hundred and fifty-seven, 4
amended by an act approved March first, eighteen hundred and ninety
four, of the Code of Virginia, be amended and re-enacted so as to read a
follows:

§ 2939. In what a justice has jurisdiction; when and how case ri
moved to court; when tried.—Any claim to specific personal property, ¢
to any debt, fine, or other money, or to damages for breach of any cor
tract, or for any injury done to property, real and personal, which woul
be recoverable by action at law or suit in equity, shall, when the clait
is to a fine, if the amount of such claim does not exceed twenty dollars,
and in all other cases, if the claim do not exceed one hundred dollars (ex-
clusive of interest), be cognizable by a justice, even though the claim be
for or against the city, town, or county in which such justice resides. In
any case of a warrant for a judgment on any contract which is of such
nature that under the rules of pleading an action of assumpsit would lie,
if there shall be served on the defendant, along with the warrant, a copy
of the account on which the warrant is brought, stating distinctly the
several items of the claim, the aggregate amount thereof, the time from
which interest is claimed, and the credits, if any, to which the defend-
ant may be entitled, which account shall be verified by the affidavit of the
plaintiff, or his agent, judgment shall be rendered by the justice in fa-
vor of the plaintiff for the amount, with interest, claimed in the said ac-
count, unless the defendant shall allege, on the affidavit of himself or his
agent, that the plaintiff is not entitled, as the affiant verily believes, to
recover anything from the defendant on such account; or state, on such
oath, a sum certain less than that set forth in the account served with
the warrant, which, as the affiant verily believes, is all that the plainti®
is entitled to recover from the defendant. If the defendant shall admit
that the plaintiff is entitled to recover a sum certain less than the amount
stated in the account served with the warrant, judgment may be taken
by the plaintiff for the sum admitted to be due, and the case tried as to
the residue in every case cognizable by a justice where the amount or
thing in controversy excceds the sum or value of twenty dollars, the jus-
tice shall, upon the application of the defendant, and upon affidavit that
he has a substantial defense thereto, at any time before trial remove the
cause, and all the papers thereof, to the circuit court of the county or to
the corporation court of the corporation wherein the warrant has been
brought, and the clerk of the said court shall forthwith docket the same,
but it shall not be tried at any term except by consent of the parties, un-
less it shall have been so docketed ten days previous thereto. On such
trial the proceedings shall conform to section thirty-two hundred and
eleven. Civil cases or appeals from justices and warrants removed
shall be tried according to the principles of law and equity, and where the
same conflict the principles of equity shall prevail. No warrant shall be
dismissed by reason of the mere defects, irregularities, or omissions in the
proceedings before the justice, or in respect to the form of the warrant,
where the same may be corrected by a proper order of the court; but the
court to which the appeal is taken, or the warrant removed shall retain
the same, with full power to direct all necessary amendments, to enter
such orders and direct such proceedings as will tend to correct the de-
fects, irregularities, and omissions aforesaid, to premote substantial jus-
tice te all parties, and to bring about a trial of the merits of the contro-
versy. This statute shall be liberally construed, to the end that justice
be not delayed or denied by reason of errors in the warrant or in the
form of the proceedings; and the court may make such provision as to
costs and continuances as may be just.

§ 2956. Where appeal cognizable.—When appeal is allowed from any
order or judgment of a justice, it shall be cognizable by the cirenit court
for the county or the corporation court of the corporation in which the
order was made or judgment rendered, unless when the order is made or
judgment rendered in a corporation, in a case involving the constitu-
tionality or validity of an ordinance or by-law of said corporation, in
which case it shall be cognizable by the circuit court having jurisdiction
over said corporation.

§ 2957. How tried ; judgment.—Every such appeal shall be tried by th-
court in a summary way, without pleadings i in writing, or, if the amount
in controversy exceed twenty dollars, by a jury, if either party requires it.
All legal evidence produced by either party shall be heard, whether the
same was produced or not before the justice from whose decision the ap-
peal is taken, and the case shall be determined according to the princi-
ples of law and equity. If judgment be recovered by the appellee, exv-
cution shall issue against the principal and his surety, jointly or sepa-
rately, for the amount of such judgment, including interest and costs,
with damages on the aggregate at the rate of ten per centum per annum,
from the date of that judgment until payment, and for the costs of the
appeal ; and the execution shall be endorsed : “No security is to be taken.”
If the decision be reversed, the party substantially prevailing shall cover
his costs; and such order or judgment shall be made or given as ought to
have been made or given by the justice. Where the appeal is from an
order or judgment, under section twenty-nine hundred and fifty-four, the
court shall give such judgment respecting the property, the expense oi
keeping it, and any injury done to it, as may be equitable among the par-
ties.

2. Be it further enacted, That an act entitled “an act to provide that
if the plaintiff in a warrant upon a contract of such nature that an ac-
tion of assumpsit would lie on same shall have served with the warrant a
copy of his account, verified by affidavit, he shall have judgment for th:
amount of the said account, unless the defendant shall deny, under oath.
that the account is due; and if the defendant deny only part of the ac-
count, he shall have judgment as to the residue, and the case be tried a-
to the part so denied,” approved March first, eighteen hundred and
ninety-eight, and an act entitled “an act to provide how appeals from jus-
tice and warrants removed shall be tried, and how defects, omissions, and
irregularities in the proceedings below may be corrected in the court te
which the appeal is taken or the warrant removed,” approved February
twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, be, and the same ark
hereby, repealed.

3. This act shall be in force on and after the first day of February,
nineteen hundred and four.