MR. BRYN ROBERTS (Carnarvonshire, Eifion)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the statement of Judge Edge, at the Clerkenwell County Court on Monday last, that the amount of perjury committed in that Court is appalling, and that in almost every case there is perjury on one side or the other, and whether he proposes to take some steps to suppress the perjury that is thus authoritatively stated to be prevalent in English Courts of Law.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. AKERS-DOUGLAS,) Kent, St. Augustine'sI have seen a report of the Judge's remarks; but I am not aware of any action I can take in the matter. The law already provides severe penalties for the crime of perjury; and the Director of Public Prosecutions is ready to take proceedings in any case brought to his notice by a Judge where there is a reasonable prospect of a prosecution being successful; but the difficulty in the way of securing convictions is the inherent difficulty of obtaining the requisite evidence.