MR. POWELL-WILLIAMS (Birmingham, S.)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General whether his attention has been drawn to a practice adopted by representatives of some of the press of seeking interviews with persons who have been called, or who are about to be called, as witnesses in matters pending before the courts of justice, and of publishing the statements and answers to questions given by such persons; whether he has observed that these statements and answers have afterwards been used in court to discredit the sworn testimony of the persons from whom they were obtained; and whether 1562 he is prepared to take measures, by legislation if necessary, to put a stop to the practice referred to, and to any interference whatever with witnesses, as being calculated to impede the course of justice.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir ROBERT FINLAY,) Inverness BurghsMy attention has been called to the fact referred to in the question. The practice mentioned in the first paragraph is a most objectionable one, and might, under certain circumstances, bring those concerned within the reach of the criminal law as it stands. The whole subject is under consideration.†