§ MR. WILLIAM MOORE (Antrim, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if there is any arrangement or understanding, or practice supported by sufficient precedent, under which the legal appellate tribunal of the House of Lords shall contain at least one member of the Scottish Bar; or whether such tribunal, in hearing Scotch and Irish appeals, may be exclusively composed of members of the English Bar who have never practised in Scotch or Irish Courts.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURIn answer to my hon. friend I have to say that there is no standing order on this question; but I believe as a matter of fact there is always, or almost always, a Scotch Judge of Appeal sitting upon Scottish appeal cases. That is certainly a desirable state of things, because, as my hon. friend is aware, Scottish law is different from English law.
§ MR. WILLIAM MOOREMay I respectfully point out that the First Lord has not answered my question? I did not ask was there a standing order, but whether there was any arrangement, or understanding, or practice supported by sufficient precedent.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI tried to interpret the rather vague phrases of my hon. friend. There is an arrangement, if arrangement means common practice; but there is no understanding that I am aware of. My hon. friend asks whether the practice is supported by sufficient precedent. I do not know what that means. As the hon. Gentleman will see, I am in a difficulty, and I cannot give him a more precise answer than the one I have given.