SPECIAL SESSIONS. (Hansard, 15 March 1842)

§ Mr. G. Bankes
brought up a bill for making further provision for the holding special petty sessions.

§ Mr. C. Buller
said, that seeing the hon. Member for Dorsetshire (Mr. G. Bankes) and the Secretary for the Home Department(Sir J. Graham) in their places, he wished to call their attention to an important point in the administration of justice, which had been mentioned to him as occurring on the Western Circuit at the present assizes. Since the Prisoner's Counsel Bill had passed, there had been a disposition, and properly so, on the part of the judges to avoid the examination of witnesses against the prisoner, lest, on reexamination, after the prisoner's counsel's cross-examination, they should be compelled to assume a tone apparently more unfavourable to the prisoner than was consistent with the strict impartiality of the bench. And the judges had introduced a practice of throwing down briefs to counsel desiring them to conduct the prosecutions; but, as counsel had a laudable habit of never doing anything for nothing, the county of Dorset had been charged a guinea in each case. The magistrates had felt it a great grievance that they should have to pay for promoting the ends of justice, and had endeavoured to evade it by a practice entirely subversive of the very principles of justice — the committing of prisoners over the assizes to take their trial at the next ensuing quarter sessions, these magistrates actually thus incurring the additional expense of prison maintenance for the interval rather than pay counsel their guinea fees, and keeping prisoners in confinement for an unlawfully long period previous to trial. He had always considered the commission of the judges to be one of gaol delivery, and that they were bound to deliver every prisoner in gaol. He therefore said, that it was unsound in principle, and unjust and unconstitutional in practice, to commit prisoners over the assizes to take their trial at the ensuing sessions. He moreover understood that in one case in which an immediate trial was applied for to one of 606 the judges, it was not granted without the imposition of certain conditions. He, therefore, thought it right to call attention to the subject, and he trusted if the right hon. Baronet was not able to do so at present that he would make inquiries and give the House some explanations respecting it.

§ Mr. G. Bankes
said, that it was in his power to give an answer to the hon. and learned Gentleman, though not to the full extent which he required. He (Mr. C. Buller) had not stated the grounds of the information which he had laid before the House, nor whether he had any better information than the public at large received from the newspapers of the day. His (Mr. G. Bankes's) attention had been directed that afternoon to a statement in the Morning Herald, which certainly contained a charge to the effect adverted to by the hon. and learned Member. But he should conceive that his hon. and learned Friend's practice and experience might have satisfied him that the statement, as it had been published, could not be true; because it was well known that the magistrates could not (even had they had the disposition so to do) prevent prisoners from taking their trials at the assizes, as the judges had not only the full power of general gaol delivery, but the imperative duty imposed upon them of effecting that delivery; so that it could not be supposed that the judges should have neglected the performance of so plain a duty, in the discharge of which the magistrates had no power whatever to interfere. He thought, therefore, that on this point there must be some misapprehension in the statements. Now, as to the other points, it had been observed by the magistrates of Dorsetshire that the expenses of the prosecutions had increased most enormously; and he, as chairman, had requested of the treasurer to furnish him with a comparative statement of those expenses; that return evinced that the average expense of a prosecution at the sessions was about 6l, 10s.; whereas, the average expense of a prosecution (for a similar offence) at the assizes was not less than 16l.10s. A great degree of this enormous increase arose from those fees to counsel to which his learned Friend had alluded It was true that the judges had generally consigned the prosecutions to counsel, and at first—not that counsel refused anything, but a guinea fee had been offered,—in a 607 short time, however, this fee had increased from one to two guineas; then other fees to solicitors and expenses of briefs were added, till at last these expenses amounted to 3l. or 41. in each case. Now, certainly, the magistrates had respectfully requested of the judges not to require the service of counsel except in such cases as it was necessary. For this the magistrates had been assailed by strong paragraphs in the newspapers, representing them, because they wished to save the rate-payers unnecessary burdens, as sordidly disposed to obstruct from views of expense, the due administration of justice. But surely it was not more than fair to represent to the judges, as he (Mr. Bankes) had respectfully done, that if they, the learned judges of the realm, required the aid of counsel, much more must the less learned and less experienced magistracy require such aid, which, if applied in all cases, would involve an expenditure utterly unsustainable by the counties. Already the expenses of prosecutions were heavy enough. On the particular inquiries which had been made he would certainly direct investigation; but he was persuaded that no such practice could prevail as had been alluded to by his learned Friend, for anxious as the magistrates were to prevent the burdens of the ratepayers being unnecessarily increased, they never could have descended to indirect or improper means of relieving the country of such charges.

§ Mr. C. Buller
said, to show that he had not over-charged the statement, he begged to read an extract from a letter of a barrister on the western circuit, from whom his information had been derived:— Application was made to the court of quarter sessions that some prisoners might be sent to trial at the assizes instead of being detained till the next sessions, and the application was acceded to on condition," &c.

§ Mr. G. Bankes:
The application was acceded to.

§ Mr. C. Buller:
Yes; but the existence of the practice of keeping prisoners over the assizes is clear, else why have a special application for their trial at next assizes?

§ Mr. G. Bankes:
Inquiry shall certainly be made into the subject.