OFFICE OF EXAMINER (COURT OF CHANCERY). (Hansard, 14 February 1853)

The SOLICITOR GENERAL

said, he begged to move for leave to bring in a Bill for the further regulation of the office of Examiner in the Court of Chancery. The House would recollect that in the last Session of the last Parliament a large portion of that reform so much needed by the Court of Chancery was embodied in a statute. He said a large portion, because much yet remained to be done, and, for his part, he would never be content until that should be effected, without which all law reform would prove ineffectual—namely, the consolidation of jurisdiction, and the administration of equity and common law from the same bench. By the statute passed in the last Session, the examiners were required to take evidence orally instead of by deposition. It was found, how- 97 ever, when it became necessary to appoint new Examiners, that the oaths prescribed to be taken under the old Act, and adopted in the new one, were inapplicable to the new duties which those officers had to perform. One of the objects of the Bill which he sought to introduce was to make the required alteration in the oath. The statute of the last Parliament also omitted to state what qualifications the Examiners ought to possess, and this was a defect which he proposed to supply. The Bill would further establish some new regulations for the payment of the salaries and pensions of the Examiners.