HC Deb 17 December 1819 vol 41 cc1302-3

The report of this bill was brought up.

Lord Ebrington

said, that as he had opposed all the other new measures which had been proposed to the House, he was glad to state that the clause in this bill which limited the time for prosecuting ex officio informations, met with his warm approbation.

Mr. Denman

, said, he considered the bill as an improvement in the law of England. Though he was not desirous of clogging its progress by the addition of clauses, he should mention, that as the law now stood, every prosecutor on a misdemeanor had the power, without cause assigned, of removing the cause by certio rari to the King's-bench, by which process it often happened, that if the defendant was found guilty, he had to pay much more for expenses than any fine imposed on him by the court. Now, as the defendant was to be prohibited from removing the case, without showing cause, the prosecutor should in like manner be restrained. Unless some gentlemen of greater weight took the matter up, he should bring it before the House. He suggested too, that it would be an improvement on the bill if the certiorari was not to issue without a notice to the opposite party.

Mr. Bernal

suggested that the officers of the Crown should, in the case of ex-officio information, be allowed to enter a nolle prosequi, without putting the defendant to the trouble of an application to the court.

Mr. G. Lamb

said, that having originally put the question respecting the limiting of ex-officio informations, which had been so satisfactorily answered by the clause of the bill before them he felt it his duty to state his approbation of the alteration which had been made. He trusted, too, that this would be sent out to the country as the only permanent measure, and that the other bills would be considered as medicines beneficial only for the moment.

The Attorney General

inserted as an amendment after the words directing an application to the court, the words "free of all expense to the party applying." Mr. Denman said it had been doubted (though he believed it applied to Wales) whether it applied to that country. The Attorney General said it certainly did. The report was agreed to.