§ MR. CAMPBELL - BANNERMANasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it is not the case that for the last six months only three judges have been sitting in the Second Division of the Court of Session in Scotland, although, by the existing statute Law, four judges are appointed to sit ordinarily in each of the two Divisions of that Court; whether any detriment to the public service in the conduct of the business of the Court has been experienced in consequence; and, if it has been found that three is a convenient and sufficient number of judges to sit ordinarily in each Division, whether the Government intends to introduce a measure for the purpose of making the necessary alteration in the Law?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS,in reply, said, it was true that only three Judges had been sitting in the Second Division of the Court of Session for the last six months. According to the statute law the senior Lord Ordinary could not take his seat in the Second Division until a new Judge had been appointed in case of a vacancy in consequence of the death of one of the Judges. Although no detriment had ensued to the public service, the existing state of matters was not satisfactory, and the Lord Advocate proposed very shortly to introduce a Bill into the House of Commons for the 1569 purpose of reducing the number of Judges by two, and of making one of the four Judges available when wanted in the lower House.