BASTARDY (WITNESS PROCESS). (Hansard, 12 March 1929)

§ Miss LAWRENCE

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to declare the Law with respect to the issue of process by justices for compelling the attendance of witnesses in bastardy proceedings. Briefly stated, the object of the Bill is to re-enact Section 70 of the Poor Law Act of 1844, which was repealed by this House when the Poor Law Consolidation Act of 1927 was passed. It will be remembered that the greatest possible care was taken to make the Poor Law Consolidation Act purely a consolidation Act. There was a Joint Committee of both Houses, which considered the whole mass of Poor Law Statutes. When the Bill came to this House it was again debated, and there were reinserted certain provisions which had been struck out by the Joint Committee as obsolete, but which, in the opinion of this House, were still wanted. Notwithstanding all the care that was taken in the matter the law was altered in one respect—not the Poor Law indeed, but the law relating to the power of magistrates, for there was nothing to take the place of Section 70 of the Act of 1844 which had been repealed.

Section 70 of that Act gave the Justices power to summon witnesses in affiliation cases. When the House passed the Poor Law Consolidation Act it did not notice what it was doing, for though the justices have a general power of summoning witnesses under the Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1848, that Act expressly exempts proceeding in affiliation cases, that power having been governed by the Act of 1844. We, therefore, deprived the magistrates of a power which they had exercised for very many years. The omission, as I have said, was not noticed at the time. As soon as the Act was passed 990 the legal profession and the magistrates did notice the omission. For instance, in Stone's "Justice of the Peace" Manual, in the 1928 edition, attention is called to the fact that Parliament had restricted the well-established powers of the magistrates, and certain magistrates of whom I have particulars have actually refused to grant these summonses when called for, though expressing great reluctance in doing so. The Association of Magistrates has discussed the matter and has expressed regret that magistrates should be deprived of these powers, for indeed they are very useful powers.

These cases are notoriously often very difficult. The parties concerned are often quite poor and ignorant people who could not get their own witnesses together. I think there is no doubt that the magistrates feel that in the interests of justice it is a pity that this power should have been repealed. The matter was brought to my attention by my friends among the women magistrates, who wrote to me explaining the circumstances, and adding, I am bound to say, some rather pointed remarks about the absent-mindedness of legislators. I then consulted the Home Secretary, and told him that I was thinking of introducing a Bill and asked his opinion. The Home Secretary replied that he would look upon such a Bill with favour, provided that he was absolutely assured that it did nothing whatever except restore the law, with regard to magistrates' powers, to the position in which it was prior to 1927.

The Home Secretary did more than that. He instructed the officials of his Department to draft the Measure itself in order that there might be no hitch arising from ignorant or amateur draftsmanship. Accordingly, the Bill which I now seek leave to present, is one which has been drafted by the Parliamentary 991 draftsman of the Home Office acting under the instructions of the Home Secretary. I feel therefore that I am presenting to the House as non-controversial a Bill as it is possible to imagine. It does nothing except restore to the magistrates a power which none of us desired to take from them. It is doing exactly what every Member of both Houses of Parliament desired to do in 1927. In the circumstances which I have detailed I think I can boldly say to the House that the form of the Measure is absolutely impeccable. I hope this small but quite useful Bill will meet with no opposition and that it may be fortunate enough to pass through all its stages in the life of this Parliament.