§ MR. PUGHasked the Secretary of State for India, Whether it is the fact that the Government of India make an annual profit on the administration of justice in civil and revenue causes and matters; and, if so, whether he can state the approximate amount of such profit?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONThe actual cost of the administration of justice, civil and criminal, is about £2,294,000. The receipts of all kinds connected with the administration of justice are about £2,320,000; so that the profit referred to in the Question is about £26,000. It is impossible to distinguish the receipts and charges under the separate heads of criminal, civil, and revenue causes and matters, as, in general, the same Courts and establishments are employed upon both civil and criminal work, and Court fee stamps are used indifferently for all eases. It is, however, the case that civil justice pays for itself and for a large part of the cost of criminal justice.