Precognition
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
In Scotch law, an examination by a judge-ordinary or justice of the peace, where any crime has been committed, that the fact may be ascertained, and full and perfect knowledge given to the public prosecutor in carrying on the prosecution. In this examination the witnesses are not put upon oath, and they are examined separately; nor is the accused, or any person on his part, admitted to be present when the precognition is taken. Those who know any thing of the fact may be compelled to come forward, on pain of imprisonment. Bell. The word is also used of the examination of witnesses by an attorney preparatory to a jury trial in a civil cause.
Paterson.