§ MR. FIELDTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, whether each Crown prosecutor in Ireland is periodically furnished by the proper authorities with a list of jurors in which he is officially concerned, whether the respective lists of jurors thus furnished are sent by the respective Crown prosecutors to the respective county inspectors of police in charge of the county, city, town, or district to which each of such lists relates; whether each county inspector of police sends his list of jurors, or part of such list, to each of his district inspectors in charge of the district to which each part of such list relates; whether each of these district inspectors of police sends the list with which he is thus furnished, or a certain portion of it, to each (or a certain) sergeant of police having charge of or connected with the locality to which each portion relates; whether the instructions relating to these lists direct the various sergeants of police entrusted with such work, to put a certain mark or other means of identification against the name of every juror known, discovered, or suspected to be a Nationalist irrespective of religious belief; whether such lists, thus prepared, are again returned to the various Crown prosecutors through the same official channels as they were forwarded; whether such lists, thus prepared, are used by the various Crown prosecutors when jurors are being challenged by them in prosecution cases; and, if so, whether he proposes to take any action in the matter.
§ (Answered by Mr. Cherry.) My right hon. friend has asked me to answer this Question. Crown prosecutors are never furnished with lists of jurors, and it is no part of their duty to challenge or order jurors to stand by on behalf of the Crown. This duty is invariably discharged by the Crown solicitors. It is the duty of the Crown solicitor to procure, on every occasion upon which assizes and quarter sessions are held, a list of the jurors summoned by the sheriff, and to make inquiries relative to the persons summoned. No instructions are given as to the persons from whom inquiries should be made, and it is open to the Crown solicitor to inquire from the 1416 police as from any other persons. No instructions are given to put a mark opposite the names of persons known to be Nationalists; on the contrary, positive instructions are given to the Crown solicitors not to inquire into the religious or political opinions of any juror, and not to direct any juror to stand by on account of his religious or political opinions. Early last year I sent a circular to every Crown solicitor in Ireland impressing upon him the importance of strictly complying with this rule, and I am not aware of any case in which it has not been loyally obeyed by the Crown solicitors during the time I have been in office.