CHAPTER III.
PROCEEDINGS IN A JUSTICE COURT.
I.IN ORDINARY CIVIL ACTIONS.
Definitions .-- A _Civil Action_ is one having for its object the protection or enforcement of a private right or the securing of compensation for an infraction thereof.

For instance a suit brought to secure possession of a horse, or to secure damages for a trespass is a civil action.

The person bringing the action is called the _plaintiff_; the one against whom it is brought, the _defendant_.

The plaintiff and the defendant are called the _parties_ to the action.
_Jurisdiction._--A justice of the peace has jurisdiction within the county in most civil actions when the amount in controversy does not exceed a certain sum, usually one hundred dollars.

(See p.