LEAVE. FIRST READING. (Hansard, 12 February 1877)

§ THE SOLICITOR GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. PLUNKET)
in moving for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the laws relating to County Officers and to the Courts of Quarter Sessions and Civil Bill Courts in Ireland, said, though it was not an exact counterpart of any Bill of last Session, it was, in point of fact, a 243 combination of two of those Bills, the Clerks of the Crown and Peace (Ireland) Bill, and the Civil Bill Courts (Ireland) Bill. In that part of the present Bill which referred to the County Courts it was proposed to extend their jurisdiction mainly by giving them a jurisdiction in Equity, and to bring into immediate effect several other useful reforms in the local administration of justice. It was divided into four parts. Its first object was to consolidate the offices of Clerk of the Crown and Clerk of the Peace, and at the same time to provide an efficient Registrar for the County Courts. The clauses framed with this purpose were not very different from the proposals which were included in the Bill of last year; therefore he would not trouble the House by stating them. The principal objection taken last year was that in the office thus created efficiency had been too much sacrificed to economy. There were always some difficulties which occurred between those who proposed measures and those who had to find the sinews of war for carrying them out; but he was happy to say that on the present occasion he had been able to come to a better understanding with the Treasury than last year. A clause had been inserted in the Bill providing that, at any time after the passing of the Act, if it should appear that the staff was insufficient for carrying on the duties of the combined offices, the Lord Chancellor should have the power to order such additional assistance as ho thought requisite, and there was also a provision in the Bill for payment to the officers so appointed. As to the second part of the Bill—that conferring an Equity jurisdiction—the Bill of last year provided for giving a jurisdiction in Equity in matters in which the annual value of the property did not exceed £30. In the present Bill that figure had been retained in regard to the annual value, but £300 had been substituted for £500 as the limit of jurisdiction in dealing with personal property. That limit had been fixed after consultation with several persons of high authority; but of course it was a proper subject of discussion in Committee. They proposed no alteration in regard to the limit of jurisdiction in testamentary cases, except in contentious cases, and in these the Bill proposed to increase the present limit of £200 to £300. As to the third part of the Bill 244 he need only say it was very much the same as the corresponding clause of the Civil Bill Courts Bill of last Session, extending the existing jurisdiction of the county Chairmen. Another important proposal was the reduction in the number of the Chairmen and Judges of the Civil Courts. There were at present 33 Chairmen of counties besides the Recorders, and the Bill proposed that there should be 21 Judges, including the three Recorders of Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, who would perform the combined offices of County Court Judge and Recorder. Instead, however, of retaining the present three classes of Chairmanships, the Bill contemplated but one class of Chairman, which, as to salary, should be equal to the present first-class Chairmanships. In the case of the Recorder of Dublin it was proposed when the arrangement combining the two offices of Recorder of the City and Chairman of the county of Dublin came into effect to pay him a salary of £2,500 a-year; in the case of the Recorder of Belfast of £2,000; and in the case of the Recorder of Cork also of £2,000 a-year. The Treasury was prepared to bear the whole expense and relieve the local taxation of the presentments for the Clerks of the Peace and Clerks of the Crown excepting those made for the registration of voters and jury lists. Special pensions would be paid to retiring Clerks of the Peace or Crown. There would be a revision of the fees in the Civil Bill Courts, and all the emoluments of those officers other than those to which ho had referred would on the union of offices be paid into the Treasury. The hon. and learned Gentleman concluded by expressing confidence that this Bill would effect great improvement in the Civil Courts, which were already very valuable to Ireland, but could be rendered still more so when they acquired the equitable jurisdiction which this Bill would confer upon them. He believed that the consolidation of the offices of the Clerks of the Peace and of the Crown would also be attended with great public advantage. It was an old saying that the doors of the Courts of Equity were always open; but as the law now stood it was impossible for the Irish people to even approach the portals of the Court of Chancery, and he believed this Bill would be a great boon to his fellow-countrymen. He hoped that as 245 it had been introduced at so early a period of the Session, Members on both sides would to their best to pass it.

§ MR. LAW
congratulated his hon. and learned Friend on the early introduction of this measure. Of the expediency of giving the Irish Chairmen a substantial jurisdiction in Equity as well as an enlarged jurisdiction for Common Law actions and contentious testamentary matters, he did not think there could be any reasonable doubt; but the value of all this depended on whether the Chairman had an adequate staff of officers to assist him. As far as he could judge from the statement of his hon. and learned Friend, there was little, if any, improvement in this respect on the proposals of last Session, and he regretted to say that, in his opinion, the official assistance which the Government thus meant to provide for the Chairmen would be found wholly insufficient, and the measure consequently prove, he feared, an utter failure. This would be a very deplorable result for the establishment of efficient local tribunals to enforce or adjust the rights of the farmers and small traders throughout Ireland. was urgently required, and had been too long delayed. There was one other point to which his hon. and learned Friend casually alluded at the close of his statement, and on which he (Mr. Law) desired to say a word. It appeared that the Bill proposed to prevent future Chairmen from practising at the Bar. Now to this he (Mr. Law) entirely objected, and that, not for the sake of the Chairmen to whom, indeed, it was a matter of indifference, but for the sake of the people, and to preserve their present confidence in the decisions of those local Courts, for it could hardly be doubted that the indirect effect of this provision would be to make the Chairmen quit Dublin and settle down with their families in the county or union of counties subject to their jurisdiction, and form at least intimacies, if not often closer connections, with the county families. Once this, or anything like this, was done, there would, he feared, be no longer that confidence on the part of the people which was at present felt in the decisions of the now non-resident Judges. However, he should take another opportunity of discussing this proposal. Meantime he gladly acknowledged that, notwithstanding these objections, the main object 246 of the Bill was good; and he hoped that the Government would be able to carry it through this Session. It was, as he had said, a measure which was much wanted; and it would, he hoped, be of great benefit to Ireland.

§ SIR COLMAN O'LOGHLEN
trusted that this important question, which so very materially affected the administration of justice in Ireland, would be fairly discussed, and that it might not cone on until April, when barristers who were Members of that House and also members of the Irish Bar would be relieved from their legal engagements.

§ MR. M'CARTHY DOWNING
concurrrd in the provision of the Bill which required that the Chairmen of Quarter Sessions should devote their entire time to the discharge of their duties.

§ MR. MURPHY
hoped that a provision would be introduced into the Bill giving to the Chairmen of Quarter Sessions in Belfast and Cork a Bankruptcy jurisdiction.

§ MR. BIGGAR
said, it had been suggested that the assistant barristers should go circuit, whereby the suspicion of partiality would be removed. He wished that Government had proposed to enlarge the jurisdiction of these Courts.

§ MR. MELDON
objected to the introduction of local Bankruptcy Courts. The business was far better done in Dublin than in local Courts.