§ MR. MARKHAM (Nottinghamshire, Mansfield)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been directed to the remarks of the Lord Chief Justice, when charging the grand jury at Warwick on Saturday last, that prisoners who desired legal assistance, under the Poor Prisoners' Defence Act, 1903, ought, when before the magistrates, to disclose their defence, so that the same could be duly investigated; and, if so, will he draw the attention of the magistrates, through the usual channels, to the direction of the learned Judge, seeing that magistrates do not generally adopt this course.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) 'I have seen a report of the 87 Lord Chief Justice's charge to the grand jury at Warwick, and I propose to have it printed and circulated to magistrates throughout the country. I may add that I have already given directions that placards explaining the provisions of the Poor Prisoners' Defence Act shall be posted in all prison cells where persons are confined on remand or committal for trial.