§ MR. GREENE (Shrewsbury)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Her Majesty's Government have taken, or will in the present Session take, steps to carry into effect all, or some, and which of the Resolutions of the Council of Judges of the Supreme Court submitted in July last to the Secretary of State with their Report, that it would be expedient to make such amendments in the Judicature Acts and otherwise as may be necessary for giving effect to the Resolutions aforesaid; and whether Her Majesty's Government will decline to adopt such of the Resolutions as relate to the abolition of civil assizes in any and which of the county towns of England and Wales, where they have heretofore been holden?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. ASQUITH, Fife, E.)Answering the second part of the hon. Member's question first, it is practically impossible, in the face of the strong and general feeling which has been manifested against the proposal, to ask Parliament to adopt the scheme for the abolition of civil assizes in any of the county towns. That being so, it has become very difficult to determine how to proceed with the recommendation of the learned Judges, which their Lordships expressly declared to be, to a great extent, founded upon the adoption of that scheme. The Lord Chancellor, however, has the matter under consideration, and expects to be soon in a position to propose legislation in respect of those parts of the Judges' Report for which the Government may be responsible. All those parts of the Report which deal with practice and pro- 558 cedure, or with arrangements for judicial sittings, are within the power of the Judges themselves, as a body or through their Rule Committee. The Lord Chancellor is in communication with them on the subject, and hopes shortly to bring some proposals before the Rule Committee.