§ MR. CONYBEARE (Cornwall, Camborne)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to the fact that, on Thursday the 3rd instant, all business at the Mansfield (Derby) Police Court was delayed for one hour and 40 minutes by the fact that only one magistrate was present and a second could not be found; whether it is the fact that, on the 16th of December last, a similar delay was caused by the same neglect of the magistrates to attend to their public duties; and, whether, having regard to the extreme inconvenience to the public of such delays, he will bring the matter under the notice of the Lord Chancellor?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)I am informed by the clerk to the Justices at the Mansfield Police Court that on Tuesday, the 1st instant, the business of the Court was delayed by the fact that only one magistrate was present. This, I am told, was due to a misunderstanding. There had been five Justices present at the licensing meeting on the previous day, and the clerk understood that two of them meant to attend the next day. It is a fact that only one Justice was present on the 16th of December last. The clerk, who has been 28 years in the 15 service of the Court, tells me that the occasions on which there has been a failure of Justices in attending have been very rare indeed. Under these circumstances, I do not see sufficient reason to call the attention of the Lord Chancellor to the matter.