REFORMS IN COURTS OF JUSTICE. (Hansard, 22 March 1830)

The Lord Chancellor

rose, to make, he said, his promised statement concerning the improvements in progress and in contemplation, in the modes of procedure in the Courts of Law and Equity, and Ecclesiastical Courts, as he had given notice he would do on occasion of moving the first reading of a bill connected with those improvements. His object, on the present occasion, was to explain the general nature and description of those measures of improvement so that their Lordships might be the better able to understand the separate provisions as they came in detail before them. He felt himself more particularly called on to do so, as the subject was mentioned in his Majesty's Speech at the opening of the Session, and the attention of the two Houses of Parliament called to it. His Majesty had then stated, that his attention had been of late earnestly directed to various important considerations connected with improvements in the general administration of justice: their Lordships must therefore be prepared to expect some communication similar to that he proposed to make. He should not feel it necessary however to enter into any details, from the consideration that each measure must be particularly submitted to their Lordships' attention as they all came successively before Parliament. All he proposed to do at present was, to lay before their Lordships the general scope of the proposed improvements. Even of this he was aware, that the several parts might appear dry and forbidding; but their Lordships would no doubt recollect that these were matters of the utmost importance to the liberty, property, and even the lives of the subject, and would therefore be disposed to listen with the attention the matter deserved. In the first place, he solicited their Lordships' attention to what had been done, and what was intended to be 675 done, with respect to the Criminal Law, in the course of the present Session. It was to his right hon. friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, that the gratitude of the country was most particularly due for what had been done in this respect. From his situation he had been enabled to pay, and had paid, most particular attention to the state of the Criminal Law, and had in that department already introduced many important improvements. He had abolished many obsolete and useless forms, such as those about benefit of clergy, and other matters of the same description, which impeded instead of promoted the administration of justice. Having brushed away these antiquated, and now cumbrous and-inconvenient appendages, he was in a condition to look at the state of the law itself, as it was scattered through the Statute-book; and beginning with the subject of larceny, he went on to consolidate the laws relative to malicious offences against per- sons and property. He was now employed in consolidating the whole of the laws relative to forgery, and relative to the punishment of death for violations of the right of property. On the whole, he had caused: to be repealed no less than four hundred statutes, and had taken away the punishment of death from nearly three hundred offences. For this, too, as well as for other things, his right hon. friend was well entitled to the gratitude of his country. There was manifestly a very great advantage in the course pursued; for, instead of such a multitude of particular Acts, the whole of the law on a given subject was reduced to five or six Acts. It was by this means brought more distinctly under the view of the legislator, and as he advanced with a certain set of improvements, he saw the way more clearly towards others; he could more accurately detect defects, and with greater facility and safety apply the remedy. From the consideration of this branch of the subject, he passed on to the proceedings with respect to the Civil Law Courts. Their Lordships were aware that two years ago a Commission was appointed to examine into the state of the Law of this Country, as administered in the superior Courts of Law. That Commission had made two Reports, and a Bill had been already prepared, and another was in progress, to carry its suggestions into effect. The superior Courts of Law in this country were the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and the Exchequer. Each of these 676 Courts was originally differently constituted; the Court of King's Bench was a Court of Criminal Jurisdiction,—the Court of Common Pleas entirely one of a Civil character, while the jurisdiction of the Court of Exchequer was confined to the cognizance of those suits which concerned the royal revenue. In process of time the Court of King's Bench assumed jurisdiction in certain civil cases, and at length in all civil cases whatever. It had interfered first in the civil suits of those who were in the custody of its own officer; and then by a fictitious allegation, which it would not allow to be controverted, that all persons who chose to bring suits into the Court were in the custody of its own officer, it assumed jurisdiction in all civil suits whatever. So the Court of Exchequer, which in its origin was a Court whose jurisdiction was confined solely to the Crown revenues, assumed a similar jurisdiction over all civil suits whatever, by means of a fiction, whereby it was alleged, and the allegation not allowed to be controverted, that the plaintiff was debtor and accountant to his Majesty, and that by: the defendant's refusing to pay him what he owed him, he rendered him the less able to pay the debt due from him to the Sovereign. In this manner the Court of Exchequer contrived to assume jurisdiction in all civil cases. Their Lordships might easily understand that a different mode of practice prevailed in each of these Courts, and that the forms were distorted with fictions. With respect to the practice of the Court of King's Bench, it required two closely-printed octavos, with distinct rules in each page, to give a fair view of it; and the case with respect to the Common Pleas was the same. With respect to the Court of Exchequer, there was no corresponding publication; but if there had been one, it must have been still more complicated and voluminous. It was intended by the measures now in contemplation, to shorten and simplify the practice of these Courts, and to assimilate them to each other, and to curtail the expense of suits in ail the Courts as much as possible. The effect would be, to render the process not only more easily understood by people in general, but more intelligible to those persons who might be preparing their way to the Bar. It was lamentable to think that it was necessary for those who were intended for the Bar to spend so much of their time in making themselves masters of mere forms 677 and technicalities, instead of the substantial parts of the law, and instead of improving themselves in general knowledge; and, therefore, the more the mode of procedure was simplified the better. That was the first point on this head; and, for the purpose which he had mentioned, a bill had been prepared, and laid on the Table of the other House, and it would be for their Lordships to judge whether it had adopted the; wise and proper course to carry the object into effect or not. The second report of the Commissioners related to a subject of great importance, namely, the science of Special i Pleading. He had heard that it had been said in another place, that special pleading ought to be abolished. The Commissioners, however, did not think so; and, in his opinion, they thought wisely. Any one might understand that what occasioned the greatest expense in the proceedings at law was the trial; and, with reference to this, the science of special pleading was most important. What was special pleading? It was to bring the issues to be tried, both as law for the Judge, and fact for the Jury, to the shortest and most distinct points, so that the parties might know precisely to what, at the trial, they would have to apply themselves, and make their preparations, as to witnesses and other matters, accordingly. If there were no special pleading, and the matters in difference were not thus made short and distinct, the suitor could not so well know how to prepare himself for the trial; and, in making preparations to meet every supposable case, he would be put to most enormous and unnecessary expense; and, in addition, there would be such a constant succession of mistakes at nisi prius, that the number and expense of new trials would be enormously multiplied. The Commissioners, therefore, did wisely in refusing to abolish a system which prevented confusion, and complication, and uncertainty, at the trials. Special pleading was no more than this: The plaintiff stated his case, the defendant pleaded (that is, answered), the plaintiff replied, and so on, and in this manner the matters in issue were brought to precise points in a short time, and these points were the precise and distinct questions—if of fact, to be decided by the Jury; if of law, by the Judge and the Court. To be sure, special pleading", like every thing human, was liable to abuses, but it did not therefore follow that it ought to be altogether abolished. The Commis- 678 sioners had acted with more discretion and wisdom; and whilst they stript the science of idle, cumbrous, unnecessary, and complicated forms, they retained the essential part, as being most useful, and even essential, to the due administration of the law. With respect to this subject, also, he hoped that when their Lordships should have the measure distinctly before them, and see what it was, they would be of opinion that on this branch of the improvements the Commissioners had done essential service to the country. He ought to mention, also, that the Commissioners had recommended the enacting of some subsidiary provisions in aid of Courts of Law, which in many cases would supersede the necessity of applying to Courts of Equity at all. To this extent, then, matters had gone, and were now in progress to a conclusion. But this was not all; for the Commissioners and the Government had paid attention to a matter of great practical importance—namely, the actual state of the superior Courts of Law as to the quantity of business before them. It appeared that during the last five years, 11,000 causes had been tried at the Court of King's Bench, 3,000 at the Court of Common Picas, and at the Exchequer only 500. During that period, he believed, that in the City of London not a single Special Jury cause had been tried by the Court of Exchequer. When he was attorney-general, he had brought a bill into Parliament, which was passed into a law, which enabled three of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench to sit under the King's warrant for some days out of term, for the despatch of term business. That measure he always, however, contemplated as a temporary, and not a permanent one. But it must be permanent, unless some other kind of assistance was provided for the Court of King's Bench. Although additional facilities were given for the despatch of business in the Court of King's Bench, by the plan which he had proposed, yet additional business flowed into it in proportion. The Court of King's Bench was the favourite Court, and all crowded into it who thought they could get to a hearing in a reasonable time, so that it was as much overwhelmed with business as ever. But the three Judges sat in a separate Court, away from the ordinary Court where the Chief Justice sat; which was attended with many inconveniences. At present the business done by the Judges 679 sitting in banco out of term was done by three, the time of the Lord Chief Justice being wholly occupied in trying causes at nisi prius. Now this was inconvenient in many respects, for it often happened that questions of law sent for the opinion of the Court, from some of the Equity Courts, had to be decided by three of the Judges, without the valuable aid of the Chief Justice. It was also a matter of considerable importance, that the three Judges sat, in a great measure, apart from the public, whose presence had a good effect both on the Bar and the Bench. He knew that a young man when at the Bar was proud when he had a special case to argue in the presence of the public in a crowded Court. This was a great stimulus to young men, and encouraged them to exertion. He did not mean to say that they neglected the business of their clients, but certainly they were deprived of a great stimulus to exertion when they were withdrawn from the view of the public.—It was, therefore, desirable that the business in the Law Courts should be conducted in the presence of the public, and in the open view of the whole profession. It was one great object of the Commissioners, that the business of the Courts should be as much equalised as possible among the whole of the Courts, and that no Court should have too much, or rather that each Court should be able to despatch the business that came before it. The Court of Common Pleas had full as much business as it ought to have; for he was convinced that neither Judges nor Counsel ought to have their time so totally occupied in the duties of their profession as to have no time to attend to anything else. He thought that Judges ought to have some time for relaxation, and for attending to objects of science and literature, and general knowledge, so as to be able to keep up, and even to add to what they had before acquired; and in this view he was satisfied that the Judges of the Common Pleas did as much business in their profession as any Judges could reasonably be called on to do. With regard to the Court of Exchequer, it was well known that it sat in a double capacity— both as a Court of Common Law and a Court of Equity. Properly speaking, the Barons, when they sat as a Court of Equity, might be assisted by the Lord High Treasurer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer; but of late years these had not attended, and the consequence was, that both at 680 Law and in Equity the Barons only sat in Court. From the inconvenience supposed to result from this, a regulation had been adopted, by which the Lord Chief Baron sat in Equity, while the three Barons sat at Common Law, and in both they sat without doing much business. One cause of this, no doubt, was, that the Court of Exchequer was in some measure closed to the general practitioner, and that the business must be conducted through the medium of a law-officer of the Court. To remedy this, the Commissioners proposed that the Common Law business should be detached from the Court of Exchequer. They thought, and he considered the opinion to be well founded, that this would have the effect, as the practice of all the Common Law Courts would be assimilated, of taking off the surplus business, which now pressed chiefly on the Court of the King's Bench, and thus one of the great evils complained of would be removed. If, besides separating the Common Law business from the Court of Exchequer, an additional Judge in Equity should be appointed, for a time at least, there would be good reason to believe that the other Courts of Equity would be relieved from the pressure which they at present labour under.—There was another measure of great importance which had engaged the attention of his Majesty's Ministers, and one which would be attended with but little additional expense, or at least less than was commonly imagined; this was, the subject of the Welsh Jurisdiction, and the appointment of an additional Judge to each of the Courts. The subject of the Welsh Jurisdiction had often been brought under the notice of Parliament, and two Reports had been made concerning it. The opinion of the Commissioners was, which he believed was also the general opinion, that it should be assimilated to that of England. The present system was established in the reign of Henry 8th, and the object of it was, to extend to the Welsh the same law and the same mode of administering justice which prevailed in England; and the only reason why that object was not attained was, the difficulty of communication which then existed between the one country and the other. But that difficulty had now been removed; the reason no longer existed; and it was proposed, therefore, that two of the additional Judges should be appropriated to that jurisdiction, and hold the Assizes there in 681 the same manner as in England. By doing this they were only following the object of Henry 8th, which was to have the laws administered in the same manner in Wales as in England. He would not enter into the details of the bill for carrying this proposed measure into execution, as the bill was in the other House, and would soon be before their Lordships. He merely now stated the general scope of the measures in contemplation and in progress, that their Lordships, from understanding the general system beforehand, might be; better prepared for the consideration of the particular details, when they should be called upon to decide upon them. There was another subject which had engaged the attention of Government, and that also was one of very considerable importance—he alluded to the subject of Jury Trial in Scotland. Commissioners had been appointed, at one time, to consider this subject, and a considerable difference of opinion prevailed. Many thought that Jury Trial was not at all adapted to the law and to the proceedings in the Scotch Courts; and it was resolved, and he thought wisely, that, in the first place, the system should not be incorporated with the Court of Session, but tried in a separate Court, by way of experiment. A great portion both of the people and the lawyers of Scotland were prejudiced against it, and therefore it was tried in a separate tribunal, The experiment had been made; and the result, he had reason to believe was, that many of those who had felt the strongest prejudice against it, and thought it utterly incompatible with the due administration of the Scotch Law, had now changed their opinion, and thought that it might be incorporated with advantage into the general system of the superior Courts of Scotland. A measure accordingly was in contemplation for effecting that object, and also to promote the general improvement of the mode of procedure in that country. Another subject of great importance had also engaged the attention of his Majesty's Ministers, although they were not prepared to bring any specific measure on the subject before Parliament: that was the law of Real Property, particularly with respect to the branch of Conveyancing. Commissioners had been appointed thoroughly to consider the subject, and among these were some of the most eminent members of the Bar connected with that particular branch of the law. They had 682 paid the greatest attention to the inquiry, and had met with considerable difficulties in the course of it. They had not yet been able to make a report; but they expected that they soon would be. He knew that they contemplated getting rid of many useless forms, and much of the expense which attended the transfer of real property. There were, no doubt, many difficulties in the way of making these alterations, but diligent investigation would probably suggest a means of successfully accomplishing, at least a considerable improvement, if not a complete reform in this branch of the law. Another measure of great importance, which had also engaged the attention of his Majesty's Ministers was, the state of the procedure and administration of the law in the Ecclesiastical Courts. A commission, composed of very learned men, had been appointed to inquire into the subject, and they would, no doubt, collect and communicate much valuable information. There had been examples, at no very remote date, of the very defective state of the procedure in these Courts, and of the necessity which existed for amendment; and perhaps it would be desirable that the provincial tribunals of this description should be abolished. It might be highly expedient that those modes of proceeding should be changed which had been established at different times, and under very different circumstances. He had called their; Lordships' attention to this rapid survey of the general scope of the proposed alterations and improvements in the law in general, as introductory to a particular object which he had in view with reference to the Court of Chancery. If it were so important that the best modes of procedure and of administering the law should be adopted with respect to other Courts, what must be the importance with reference to the Court of Chancery? Their Lordships might judge when he informed them that there were forty millions sterling of the money of his Majesty's subjects in that Court. A commission had been appointed some years ago to consider the state of the procedure and the administration of the law in that Court, and he had heard that it had been said in another place that the commission had been productive of no advantage, and had only occasioned needless expense. The one assertion was just as correct as the other. That commission had been 683 attended with no expense, except for the salary of the Secretary and the rent of the room in which the Commissioners sat, for the able men who had composed it had attended gratuitously. As for the advantage derived from the Commission, it had effected, perhaps, with one exception, as much as it could. The object of the commissioners was, to shorten the system of procedure previous to the trial, and they had made many valuable suggestions for that purpose; and many regulations had been already made in order to cany their recommendations into effect. Some of them were embodied into the orders for the regulation of the proceedings of the Court, others were incorporated into the bills which had been brought into Parliament. Those which could be carried into execution without the sanction of Parliament had been already adopted, and for those which could not, the Ministers then sought the sanction of Parliament. A great deal had, in fact, been already done towards simplifying the proceedings in the earliest stages, and indeed all that could conveniently be done. The next and the great point was the hearing of causes, and the subsequent proceedings. Of the delay a complaint had always prevailed, from the time of Lord Bacon to this day, and it had happened that the arrears had accumulated to a great extent, so that even thirty years had elapsed before a final decree could be pronounced. But there was one consolation at this day, and that was, that for the last five years there was no increase in the arrears; and if they could once get rid of the arrears, the present establishment of the Court of Chancery might be sufficient to keep down the arrear in future. Casualties, however, might occur, as in the case of that most able judge, the present Master of the Rolls, and of Sir Thomas Plumer. Besides the casualties of indisposition, many might occur from deaths and vacancies. But still, if the arrear were once got rid of, he believed that it might be kept down by the present strength of the Court of Chancery, and he was willing to qualify the proposition which he had made last year for an additional Equity Judge, to the extent of that possibility. But if they were to appoint an additional Judge to each of the Courts of Common Law, it would be but unwise policy, as it appeared to him, to deny an additional 684 Judge to the Court of Chancery, the arrear in which it was so very important to get rid of. But he would suggest this qualification, that when the arrear should be got rid of, in case of a vacancy in that office occurring by resignation or death, his Majesty, with the advice of his Privy Council, should be enabled to decline filling up the vacancy, and so discontinue the appointment. This might easily be done, for the new Judge would act with the machinery of the Court of Chancery already in operation, and no new officers would be appointed—for whom, in case of discontinuing the Judge, compensation must be provided. This would create no new establishment, and the only additional expense would be the salary of the Judge himself. Even without the death or resignation of any of the Chancery Judges, the new Judge might, when the arrears were got. rid of, be transferred to any of the other Courts if necessary. He ascribed the fact, that there had been no recent increase of arrear in the business of Chancery, to the fact of the Master of the Rolls having most readily, and with that willingness with which he listened to any proposition for facilitating the despatch of business, acceded to the suggestion which was made to him, that he should hold his sitting in the morning instead of in the evening. The Master of the Rolls now sat in the morning, and had drawn to him a separate Bar, which was attended with most advantageous results to the suitors of the Court. He did not know what was the exact state of the arrear of the Court of Chancery, up to the moment in which he spoke, but by the returns laid on the Table of the other House, up to last Hilary Term, it appeared that the arrear was in some degree corresponding to the state in which if was at the same period of the last year. The only objection that he had heard to the appointment of an additional Judge in the Court of Chancery was this,—it was said, "If you multiply the Judges, you facilitate the hearing, but you increase the number, of appeals." He was not aware of the value of this objection, but one great answer to it was this, that the chief business of the Court, and indeed the principal reason of the delay in hearing causes, was the number of motions. In Lord Hardwicke's time, motions connected with a cause for hearing were refused. Lord Hardwicke used to say, "I will not 685 hear the motion, but I will hear the cause, because that may get rid of the motion altogether." There were now, however, so many motions, that this could not be always done. Some of those motions occupied as long a time as would be sufficient for the hearing of the cause itself. If, therefore, they could by any means diminish the number of motions, they would diminish the delay in hearing the causes, and there would be little fear of having any increase in the number of appeals. So great, however, was the number of motions, and so pressing were barristers in urging them on the attention of the Court, that the Chancellor had not time for hearing appeals. It frequently happened that when he called on a cause, one barrister stood up, and said, "I have a motion to make for an injunction, which is necessary to prevent a great waste of property." Another said, "I have a motion for the appointment of a receiver, which is essential to the interest of parties before the Court." The Chancellor had no option; he was obliged to hear these motions; and in (his way the hearing of causes and of appeals was delayed. In the course of last year he had only been able to devote thirty days to the hearing of appeals. If he were allowed only fifty days in the year to hear, or if any other course were taken to dispose of the motions, the arrear would soon be got under. It had been stated that there would be an increase of appeals from the Court of Chancery to that House. The increase, however, he believed, would be very small. At present there were only six such appeals, and that would make no very inconvenient addition to the number on the books. The whole number of appeals on the book at the commencement of this Session was between eighty and ninety; and of these, thirty had been already disposed of. The arrangement made in this respect by his noble and learned friend would enable their Lordships to sit five days in the week, and in that way he hoped that before the end of the Session the whole of them would be disposed of. Their Lordships were at present hearing appeals which had been set down last year, and that was proceeding with as much speed as in the Courts of Common Law; for cases on Writs of Error could not be brought to hearing before the lapse of a year. No inconvenience, therefore, was likely to arise from any increase 686 of appeals to their Lordships. One word as to what had been said with respect to the Privy Council. It had been stated that that Court required great alterations in its constitution and in its practice as to hearing appeals. He was not of that opinion. It had the advantage on most occasions of the presidency of the Master of the Rolls, or of some other distinguished law officer, who gave his constant attention to the business which was brought before it. He saw therefore no necessity for any alteration. The valuable assistance which had been given by his noble and learned friend (Lord Wynford) for the half of last year, and by the Master of the Rolls for the other half, had been so effectual that there was no arrear in that Court. He spoke this in the presence of his noble friend the President of the Council. But to revert to the recommendations of the Chancery Commission, the Commissioners had made many suggestions with respect to the Masters' office, and many of these suggestions had been carried into effect. It had been stated that the Masters in Chancery led lives of idleness, and that they had, in fact, little or nothing to do. He could state from his own knowledge of the practice of the Court, that this imputation was unfounded. Looking at the business of the last four years, he found that they had presented on an average 4,000 reports and certificates, and when their Lordships recollected that many of these required days of anxious labour and inquiry, they might judge how unfounded any charge of idleness against them must be. He could also state that there was a very small arrear in proportion to the business despatched. One of the circumstances recommended by the Commissioners with respect to the Masters in Chancery was of the utmost importance. It related to the manner in which the Masters were paid. A great proportion of the emoluments received by the Masters was derived from what was called Copying; the Masters and their clerks were paid, partly by fees on copying, and partly by direct demand for money. From this circumstance had arisen the imputation against the Masters, that they endeavoured to lengthen the proceedings, and that they were in the habit of multiplying copies beyond the necessary number. He believed the imputation to be altogether unfounded; but still it was desirable to re- 687 move even the source of unfounded imputations, when the person against whom they were made were in the discharge of judicial functions. He admitted, too, that the Masters ought to be paid in a different manner. This was a subject of considerable difficulty, but he had devised another mode of payment, which he believed their Lordships would approve, and which, he trusted also would not be objected to by the Masters. The mode which he should propose,—a mode, be it observed, which imposed no additional expense upon the public,—was, that the fees of the Masters should be received as they had been hitherto; that they should be carried to a fund, to be called the "Masters' Fund;" and that out of this fund the Masters should for the future be paid. In his opinion a proper remuneration for a Master would be 3,000l. a year. Under the present system many of the Masters made considerably more than 3,0001. a year; but he should propose that no Master appointed hereafter should receive more than 3,000l. a year, or any other sum at which the Parliament might think proper to fix a Master's salary. He should not, however, propose that the Masters should be remunerated wholly by means of a salary; but that their remuneration should arise, partly from a salary, and partly from a fee on each report. He had adopted this mixed mode of remuneration, in order that the Masters might not be deprived of that stimulus which, though it was perhaps a matter of small consideration with respect to a Judge who acted in public, was certainly a matter that should not be lost sight of with regard to Judges who discharged their functions, not in public but in private. He proposed, therefore, that the salary of a Master in Chancery should be 3,000l. a year, and that the emoluments of every new Master should be limited to that sum. He believed that most of the present Masters would agree to the plan he proposed of carrying all the fees into one fund, to be called the "Masters' Fund," out of which they should be paid; but some of the present Masters, probably, would not consent to this arrangement. By this mode, however, they would effect all that was at present practicable, and they would be able ultimately to accomplish the object which the Commissioners had in view. Their Lordships could not conceive the barrier to improvements in the Court of Chancery which 688 arose from the present mode of remuneration. To give their Lordships an instance, he would mention that the Court of Chancery made, among other orders, one respecting the mode of taking accounts, directing that accounts should be taken in a particular manner. This order was published, but the Masters refused to act upon it. And why? Because, they said, it would diminish the fees of certain persons in the Report-office. The Court again was unable for the same reason to diminish the length of reports. The Court could indeed make an order which, if carried into effect, would attain that object, but if the consequence of that order was also the diminution of the fees of any particular person, the order would not be acted upon, and would therefore be nugatory. This mode of remuneration once got rid of, they might do a great deal. When he stated to their Lordships that he proposed to add a new Judge to the Court of Chancery,—that appointment being qualified and restrained in the manner he had mentioned,—he had not, he believed, told their Lordships that by this addition no new expense would be imposed upon the public. It had given great gratification to him, and it would doubtless be a source of gratification to their Lordships also, to find that this appointment might be made without adding to the public expense. There was a fund in the Court of Chancery, the nature of which he could not explain to their Lordships in any better way than by likening it to the unclaimed dividends remaining in the Bank of England. This fund had its origin 100 years ago; and had produced an income of between 50,000l. and 60,000l. a year. It had been applied by the legislature, at various times, to various purposes connected with the Court,—such as the building of offices, and in part payment of the salaries of the Vice-Chancellor, the Masters, and the Registrars. There was now remaining of it a clear surplus which produced an income of 30,000l. a year; and it was his intention to propose that the salary of the new Judge should be paid out of this fund. What he had said with respect to the Masters would apply almost in the same degree to the Registrars. It was the business of the Registrars to draw up the decrees of the Court, and it was of the utmost importance to the suitors that the functions of the Registrars should be performed without delay. In this view the Chancery Commission had recommend- 689 ed that two new Registrars should be appointed. One of the objects of his bill was, to carry this recommendation of the Commissioners into effect: but no additional expense would be thereby incurred; for the fees which were now received by four Registrars would then be divided among the six. He would not then enter into any details respecting the duties of the Registrars and the arrangements contemplated, but content himself with observing, that what he had said with respect to the Masters would apply also to the Registrars. Thus, then, he had given their Lordships a general outline of the steps which had been taken to facilitate the progress of a cause in the Chancery Court; and he had called the attention of their Lordships to the measures in contemplation for the furtherance of the same object by the appointment of an additional Judge, and by arrangements with respect to the Masters and the Registrars. But there was another point connected with this part of the subject on which he had yet to touch. The Masters had told him that the book which had been kept in the Masters' Office, relative to the progress of causes, had been productive of the most salutary effects. He proposed, therefore, that at stated periods a return should be made to the Lord Chancellor of all the cases in which no decree had been made, in order that information might be given to the parties concerned, and an inquiry made into the causes of the delay. Upon another subject, connected with the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, it was necessary that he should trouble their Lordships with a few words: he alluded to Commissions of Lunacy. A commission of Lunacy, in ordinary cases was attended with very little expense; but in some cases the expense of such commissions had been enormous. It had been so in the case of Lord Portsmouth, in the late case of Mr. Davies, and in the case of a gentleman residing in Leicestershire, whose name he believed was Holmes. A bill had, during the present Session of Parliament, been introduced into the other House by an hon. and learned friend of his (Mr. M. A. Taylor) to lessen these expenses; and the mode in which it was proposed to accomplish this was, by giving authority to the Lord Chancellor to direct a Judge of one of the superior Courts to preside at such inquiries, in cases where the Lord Chancellor should think the inquest required the 690 presence of a Judge, and ought not to be conducted in the ordinary mode,—namely, by commissioners. He had had a communication with his hon. and learned friend who introduced the bill, and he believed he had satisfied that gentleman that a legislative enactment on the subject was unnecessary,—inasmuch as the Chancellor already possessed this power. There were instances of such inquests having been directed to the Lord Chief Baron and to the Attorney-General, so far back as the time of Henry 8th. He would not trouble their Lordships with particular instances, but content himself with observing that the Lord Chancellor had such a power. He would add, too, that he thought it would be wise and prudent in the Chancellor to exercise that power in cases which rendered it necessary. The excessive expense of lunacy inquests did not arise from the state of the law, or from technical difficulties; for nothing could be more simple than the law on this subject; it was caused altogether by the protracted attendance of witnesses. The expense then would be diminished by shortening the inquest; and it was dear that the examination of witnesses would be conducted with more celerity, and with more satisfaction, under the superintendence of a Judge in the habit of presiding at nisi prius, than under the direction of the gentlemen to whom commissions of lunacy were in ordinary cases directed. This had occurred to him long before hi hon. and learned friend introduced the I bill to which he had alluded, and he had intended, and still did intend, to exercise this power in cases which should appear to him to call for the presence of a Judge. There was another subject connected with the Court of Chancery which he must not pass over; and this was the jurisdiction and the practice of the Court in cases of Bankruptcy. He could assure their Lordships that he had carefully and deliberately directed his attention to this subject, over and over again; and he was more than ever convinced that the administration of the law in bankruptcy, so far as it related to the metropolis, could not be confided to a better description of persons than those in whose hands it was now placed; namely, Commissioners. Much of their duty was ministerial: some of it was judicial; and the business that came before them was of the most fluctuating nature; but these tribunals were so constituted, that 691 they adapted themselves with facility to all. As to the manner in which the Commissioners performed their duties, he had no hesitation in saying that they performed them well. The tests of this were, in the first place, the number of appeals from their decisions: in the next place, the number of the reversals of those decisions. Now, considering the immense quantity of business disposed of by the Commissioners, it was wonderful how small the number of appeals were; and still more wonderful how few decisions of the Commissioners had been reversed. He thought, therefore, that the constitution of these tribunals was good, and he had no intention of proposing any alteration in them. Some propositions, however, he had to make, which would diminish the expenses of proceedings in bankruptcy,—but he could not enter into the details of these on the present occasion. He should propose, too, that the jurisdiction of the London Commissioners should be enlarged. Their jurisdiction was at present limited to the distance of forty miles from London. The facilities of communication had of late years so rapidly increased, that he thought their jurisdiction might, without inconvenience, be extended to the distance of eighty miles; for he thought that with the increased facilities of communication, eighty miles now could scarcely be considered more than forty miles were at the time when the extent of the jurisdiction of the London Commissioners was fixed. This arrangement would bring more business to the Commissioners, and give to the inhabitants of places within eighty miles of the metropolis the advantage of better tribunals than they had at present. In Lord Rosslyn's time commissions were established in all the great mercantile towns. Why this wholesome system was abandoned, not many years ago, he did not know, but he thought it was because the increase of patronage was alleged to have been the only object in view in establishing such commissions. He was one of those who thought that no man ought to be diverted from the upright and correct discharge of his duty by imputations of this nature, and that a man, unjustly loaded with obloquy, should rather endeavour to show that he did not deserve censure than abandon a course which he knew to be good, merely because it subjected him to unfounded aspersions. He should propose that such commissions should be re-established in 692 the great mercantile towns. He had the power of doing this without the intervention of the legislature; and he should effect this object, with a view to make it as little expensive as possible, in such a manner, that with these new commissions, the number of Commissioners of Bankrupts should be the same as at present, including both the London and country commissioners. Thus there would be no increase in the number of persons appointed, and there would, therefore, be no ground for supposing that increase of patronage was any part of his object in proposing this arrangement. The arrangement had been strongly recommended by a gentleman deeply versed in commercial transactions, who had presided over a Committee of the Mouse of Commons in which this subject was carefully considered, and on whose acuteness, and knowledge, and experience he felt that he could safely rely. He had thus rapidly stated to their Lordships the nature of the measures in contemplation for the improvement of the administration of justice. Some of those measures were not yet prepared; some of them were in progress; and of these the progress of some was more advanced than that of others. Their Lordships would see that many of them required time. He had thought it his duty to lay before their Lordships this general statement. He could assure their Lordships that those to whom the task of inquiry into these matters had been confided, had perseveringly directed their talents and their energies to the subject. He believed that the result of their labours would be beneficial to the public; he trusted that their Lordships would think so too, when the measures were brought before them in detail; but he was perfectly sure that the public good, and that alone, had been consulted by the Commissioners in all their investigations. If their Lordships should concur in the observations he had thrown out, and in the measures submitted to them, it would be a source of great gratification to him personally, and to those who had co-operated with him. He had now only, in conclusion, to move that the Bill he presented "to facilitate the Administration of Justice in the Courts of the country," be read a first time.