§ MR. JASPER TULLY (Leitrim, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether he is prepared to accept the proposed Amendment to the Stipendiaries Magistrates (Ireland) Bill providing that in charges against publicans for breaches of the Licensing Acts the court of summary jurisdiction shall, as at present, consist of two or more justices, and not of a stipendiary magistrate sitting alone.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELANDUnder the 51st Section of the Licensing Act 1872, a stipendiary magistrate was given jurisdiction to decide these cases when sitting alone. There can be little doubt that it was the intention of the Legislature to confer this jurisdiction on resident magistrates under the designation of stipendiary magistrates. The Bill which has been introduced has been framed to carry out that intention, and it is rendered necessary by the decision of the Queen's Bench Division that resident magistrates are not stipendiaries within the meaning of the section. The answer to the Question must therefore be in the negative.