§ MR. BRUENasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether his attention has been drawn to an occurrence at this Summer Assize held at Tralee, where, in the case of The Queen v. Quilter, on an indictment for murder, the Crown prosecutor, Sir Colman O'Loghlen, applied for a postponement of the trial on the ground, proved by affidavit, that the whole jury panel summoned to serve at the Assize had been canvassed on behalf of the prisoner, and that a fair trial could not be had; and, whether he will in the Juries Procedure Bill now before Parliament propose a change in the mode of summoning jurors to form the panel as will prevent their names from being known a long time before being called on to serve, and so giving opportunity for solicitation or intimidation, a result which cannot be prevented under the present system of summoning in dictionary order?
§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACHThe trial of John Quilter has certainly been postponed to the next Tralee Assizes, and the reports in the public Press agree in stating that it was postponed by the learned Judge for the reason given in my hon. Friend's Question—namely, that the jury panel had been canvassed on behalf of the prisoner; though I do not think that it was alleged that the canvassing had extended to the whole jury panel. But as I have not yet received the report of the Crown Solicitor on the case, which only occurred a few days ago, I am unable to say precisely how far the reports in the Press are accurate. There is in the Juries Procedure Bill a proposal for the repeated summoning from time to time of jurors who have not answered to their names, which will, I hope, not only secure a better attendance of jurors, but will also make it more difficult than at present to ascertain the composition of the jury panel before trial.