§ MR. DIXON-HARTLAND (Middlesex, Uxbridge)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the late Civil Assizes at Leeds having ended on the 1st of April last another Civil Assize has been fixed at Leeds for the 10th of May; whether, during the last few years, three Civil Assizes have been held at Leeds during five months and none during the rest of the year; whether the Corporation of Leeds, the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, and the Leeds Law Society more than a year ago made representations to the Lord Chief Justice of England disapproving of the present arrangement of the Civil Assizes at Leeds; and whether complaints have reached him that the absence of a Judge from London at these Assizes seriously interferes with the trial of London actions?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. MATTHEWS,) Birmingham, E.The answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. The Civil Assizes have been held during the last few years during the Hilary, Easter, and Trinity sittings, and not during the Michaelmas sittings. I am not aware whether representations have been made disapproving of the present 130 arrangements; but the power of alteration does not lie with the Lord Chief Justice. The absence of a Judge must always interfere with trials in London; but certainly less at this time than at any other. Under the present arrangements only four Judges are absent at this time of the year, instead of nine as heretofore. I am informed by the Lord Chancellor that he has the subject under consideration, and is at this very moment in communication with the Judges with the view of determining the most convenient time for holding the Civil Assizes at Leeds.