§ MR. D. MACALEESE (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if in Ireland it is customary for the Lord Chancellor when appointing magistrates to assign certain districts of a county in which they are to adjudicate; if so, why in their deed of commission are they nominated county magistrates; should they insist on adjudicating in districts of their county outside those mentioned in their deed of commission, what punishment would be inflicted; and when did the custom begin to exist of Lord Chancellors limiting the exercise of judicial functions to particular districts in the case of the appointment of county magistrates?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURIt is the practice of the Lord Chancellor, as it was of his predecessor, to notify each person about to be appointed to the county magistracy the district or districts in which only he is to attend at Petty Sessions, and that the commission will be issued to him on the understanding that without the sanction of the Lord Chancellor he shall only attend the Petty Sessions of the district or districts assigned to him. The Lord Chancellor cannot anticipate what course he would deem it his duty to adopt in the event of a magistrate disregarding this regulation, as each case must depend upon its own circumstances.