§ COLONEL MCCALMONT (Antrim, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland what were the costs incurred by the Irish Land Commission in the case of the Queen at the prosecution of Lord Gosford v. the Irish Land Commission in the Queen's Bench Division and the Court of Appeal: whether these expenses were incurred through the Land Commission having refused to state a case for the Court of Appeal or for leave to appeal; is he aware that the judges were of opinion that the questions at issue were questions of law which arose in the case, and were questions which should have been submitted for the opinion and decision of the Court of Appeal; and whether directions can be given to the Land Commission to enable parties to have matters of law decided by the Court of Appeal without having to resort to the legal remedies vested in the Common Law Division of the High Court of Justice?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe costs of the Land Commission in the Queen's Bench Division and Court of Appeal amounted to £463. These costs were incurred in upholding a procedure, the legality of which was challenged, that had existed for a number of years and which the Court of Appeal unanimously 685 decided to be correct. The Land Commission, in the exercise of their judicial discretion, declined to state a case for the Court of Appeal upon certain questions submitted to them. As regards the third and fourth paragraphs, I must remind my honourable Friend that it is not the province of the Executive to express any opinion on questions of law or to give directions of the kind suggested.