§ MR. TOMLINSON (Preston)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the District Probate Registries are exclusively occupied with the granting of unopposed Probates and Letters of Administration and similar business, and whether they perform any duties connected with the administration of justice; whether the stamps which are paid for in their offices are paid direct to the Inland Revenue Department, or are any portion of such stamps included in the sum of £371,759 6s. 11d., mentioned at the foot of p. 220 of the Civil Service Estimates for this year; whether he will consider the advisability of transferring the cost of the District Probate Registries to some other head; whether the County Court Registries in Bankruptcy, the Vote for which is referred to as being an addition to the cost of the Supreme Court of Judicature, are wholly occupied with bankruptcy business, and ought to be set against the surplus of £58,300 appearing to arise in the Bankruptcy Department of the Board of Trade (Class 2, Vote 9, p. 121, Civil Service Estimates); how are the items of the expenditure of the 1781 £17,650 (same Vote, at p. 220, of Estimates) made up; does it include any items for District Probate Registries; can any estimate be formed as to the proportion of the Vote for the Supreme Court of Judicature attributable to the administration of the Criminal Law; can any estimate be formed of the total net cost after allowing for stamps and other extra receipts of the administration of the Civil Law; and, whether, in view of the fact that the stamps and extra receipts in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice more than pay the cost of administering that branch of judicature, he will consider the question of appointing an additional Judge of that Division?
§ THE SECRETARY (Mr. JACKSON) (Leeds, N.)The District Registries of the Probate Division are by statute attached to, and under the control of, the High Court of Judicature. They exist primarily for the purpose of safeguarding the transmission of property by will, and not for revenue purposes. The fees taken are not paid to the Inland Revenue, but form part of the fee receipts of the High Court; and the cost of maintenance of the District Registries appears to be properly chargeable to the same Vote as that of all other Administrative Departments of the Court. Bankruptcy work in the County Courts is performed by the Court Registrars; and their remuneration for this work, and the office and other expenses connected with it, is debited to the bankruptcy account, and not to that for the Supreme Court. The item of £17,650 in the Vote for the Supreme Court includes the following charges connected with the District Probate Registries:—Works and repairs, £700; cleaning, lighting, and miscellaneous, £1,800; furniture, £100; rents, £930—total, £3,030. It is not possible accurately to distinguish the proportions of the Supreme Court Vote, or of the net cost attributable to the administration of the Criminal and Civil Law respectively. I am not aware that the stamps and extra receipts of the Chancery Division do more than pay the cost of administering that branch of judicature. In answer to the last Question of my hon. Friend, I am placing on the Table to-day a Notice of a Resolution for the appointment of an additional Judge.