552                              Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 181

21. Review of decisions of circuit courts and Baltimore City courts.

In any case in which a final judgment has been rendered by the
circuit court of any county or by one of the courts of Baltimore City
upon appeal from [a justice of the peace, people's court, trial magis-
trate, or Municipal Court of Baltimore City] the District Court
if it shall be made to appear to the Court of Appeals in the case
of judgment in a civil action not subject to the jurisdiction of the
Court of Special Appeals or to the Court of Special Appeals in the
case of a criminal action or in the case of a judgment in a civil
action subject to its jurisdiction upon petition of any party that a
review is necessary to secure uniformity of decision, as where the
same statute has been construed differently by the courts of two or
more circuits, or that there are other special circumstances rendering
it desirable and in the public interest that the case should be re-
viewed, the Court of Appeals or the Court of Special Appeals, as the
case may be, shall require by certiorari or otherwise, any such case
to be certified to it for review and determination.

Appeals from District Court

30. Right to appeal in criminal or traffic case; disposition of fines
and costs in criminal, traffic, or civil cases.

(a) [Any party may appeal to the circuit court for the county
from any judgment of a justice of the peace or trial magistrate of
the county in any civil cause and] In a criminal or traffic case, the
defendant may appeal [to the circuit court for the county] from
any conviction or sentence imposed by the District Court, including
the suspension of sentence, or a sentence following a plea of guilty or
nolo contendere, in any cause. The appeal shall be pursuant to Ar-
ticle 26, Sec. 156, Annotated Code of Maryland. [Such appeal may be
taken at any time within thirty days from the date of said judgment
if the cause is civil, and within ten days if the cause is criminal or
deals with a violation of any motor vehicle law. The court to which
such appeal is taken shall hear the case de novo and determine the
same according to law and the equity and right of the matter. This
section shall be construed to include all actions of debt for the
collection of fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed by any law of the
State or by any ordinance of any incorporated city or town of the
State, and which are made recoverable before a justice of the peace,
in which a right of appeal may not be given by the law imposing
same; and this section shall also be construed to include all causes
of any kind or nature triable before any justice of the peace.]

[If an appeal is taken from a conviction imposing a fine or other
monetary penalty in a criminal case, the trial magistrate shall trans-
mit the fine, costs or other monetary penalty so levied to the clerk of
the circuit court to which said appeal is taken. In the event of
acquittal or of the levy of a fine (including costs) by the circuit
court in a sum less than that levied by the magistrate, the entire
fine or the surplus held by the clerk in excess of the fine levied by the
circuit court, as the case may be, shall be returned to the defendant.
All fines levied by the circuit court hereunder shall be paid by the
said clerk to the county commissioners as provided in this section.
In the event of a dismissal of an appeal by the defendant before
trial in the circuit court, the clerk shall pay the fine, costs, or other
monetary penalty so deposited with him to the county commissioners
as hereinabove provided.]