MR. HERBERT LEWIS (Flint, &c.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Lords Lieutenant of counties excuse themselves from appointing additional Magistrates on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor, on the ground that, if such Magistrates were appointed, the usual limit of number would be exceeded; whether he is aware that a large proportion of Magistrates never attend Quarter or Petty Sessions in the counties for which they have been appointed; and whether the Lord Chancellor will take steps to remove from the Commission of the Peace any Magistrate who has failed for one year to attend a meeting of Quarter or Petty Sessions, and thereby make room for duly qualified persons who will attend to Magisterial duties?
§ MR. ASQUITHSome Lords Lieutenant have represented to the Lord Chancellor that the appointment of additional Magistrates in particular Petty Sessional Divisions would cause an excess over the usual number. The Lord Chancellor is aware that a large number of Magistrates never do attend. It is by no means clear that he has the power to remove from the Commission all Magistrates who have failed for one year to attend a meeting of Quarter or Petty Sessions; but, in the opinion of the Lord Chancellor, the presence of the names of such persons on the Commission is no sufficient ground for abstaining from making other appointments.