§ MR. NIELD (Middlesex, Ealing)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, pending the passing of the Criminal Appeal Bill, or independently thereof, he will require a proper and formal record of the evidence given upon the trials of prisoners at quarter sessions to be made by the presiding chairman, and safely preserved; and that such evidence should no longer be permitted to depend upon rough pencilled notes of the chairman, as is shown to have been done at the trial of the Edalji case.
§ MR. GLADSTONEJudges and chairmen of quarter sessions take notes of the evidence for their own guidance in summing up. I have no authority to issue any instructions in this matter. In any case the quickest way of acheiving the hon. Member's object lies in the speedy passage into law of the Court of Criminal Appeal Bill, which provides for the taking of a shorthand note.