HC Deb 09 February 1911 vol 21 cc426-7
Mr. LONSDALE

asked the Chief Secretary whether his attention has been directed to the finding of the jury at the hearing in Dublin of the charge against seven defendants of conspiracy to boycott William Jones, of Rapparee Hill, county Longford; and whether, having regard to the remarks of the judge who tried the case, it is intended to indict the jury for misdemeanour or to take further action in the matter?

Mr. SWIFT MacNEILL

Before the right hon. Gentleman answers that question may I ask him a question, of which I have given him private notice, whether he is aware that the right of a jury to return a verdict according to their own consciences and without being subject in respect of it to any penal consequences was firmly established in 1670 in Bushell's case, and has never since been questioned, whether he is aware that the Writ of Attaint, being a remedy for a corrupt verdict in civil cases only, has been obsolete for nearly four centuries, and was abolished by statute in 1825, and whether in this case the jury found no verdict, but disagreed.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND (Mr. Redmond Barry)

My right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question, and I will first answer the question on the paper. I have seen a newspaper report of the proceedings at the recent trial referred to in the question. While the jury were apparently prepared to acquit one of the defendants no finding in fact was arrived at. The jury disagreed, and, according to the report I have seen, on the question of fact, namely, whether or not the defendants were participators in the combination charged in the case. The disagreement of the jury does not call for any action.

With regard to the private notice question of the hon. Member (Mr. Swift MacNeill), it is now a well established rule that a jury cannot be fined or imprisoned by reason of their decision upon the facts in issue, expressed in their verdict. Bushell's case referred to finally determined the matter. A Writ of Attaint was not applicable in criminal cases. Writs of Attaint were abolished in Ireland in 1833, by 3 and 4 Wm. IV. c. 91, Sec. 47. They had been long previously in disuse.