JUDICIAL STATISTICS (IRELAND). (Hansard, 17 July 1863)

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE
, in pursuance of notice, rose to move Resolutions to the effect that it is expedient and necessary that Judicial Statistics from Ireland, similar to those for England and Wales, should be annually furnished. The noble Marquess said that it was unneces- 942 sary to use a single argument to prove the utility of these statistics; and when his noble and learned Friend Lord Brougham moved his Resolution in 1856, by which he had added another to his many claims on the gratitude of the country for services rendered, there was no idea of restricting the statistics to England and Wales. The noble Earl the President of the Council announced in 1861 that thereafter the information would be presented from Ireland as well as from England and Wales; and when his noble and learned Friend (Lord Brougham) was presiding over the Juridical Department of the Social Science Congress in Dublin, he congratulated the people of Ireland upon that announcement. He made no complaint against the noble Earl or his Colleagues; but he did complain of the legal advisers of the Irish Government and other high functionaries in Ireland for having abstained from taking any efficient steps to collect these statistics, and he thought that their disregard of the character and credit of the Lord President, and their disregard of the wishes of their Lordships, ought not to be tolerated. There was pressing necessity for having the information, and he felt some confidence that their Lordships would adopt these Resolutions, by which the benefit of the system of judicial statistics would no longer be withheld from Ireland. The noble Marquess concluded by moving to resolve— That in the Session of 1856 this House resolved that 'a Department for the Collection of Judicial Statistics should be formed in connection with the Home Office,' and 'should make an Annual Report to Parliament at a stated Time, presenting Returns in a collective Form illustrative of the State and Progress of the Administration of the Law throughout the United Kingdom:' That, accordingly, such a Report and Return have been annually presented to Parliament since the Year 1858 for England and Wales, and contains Information of the greatest Value: That notwithstanding the Resolution of 1856, and a Pledge given by Ministers in Debate upon the Subject in July 1861, no similar Report has been made from Ireland: That it is expedient and necessary that Judicial Statistics from Ireland, similar to those for England and Wales, and to be presented at the same Time, should be annually furnished; and with that view it is necessary that a Person acquainted with the Irish Courts and otherwise competent should be attached to the Home Office, and that all possible Facilities and Co-operation should be afforded to this Officer by the several Authorities in Dublin Castle and the various Law Courts of Ireland.

§ EARL GRANVILLE
hoped that their 943 Lordships would not assume either that there were no statistics in Ireland, or that there had been any premeditated opposition by the legal authorities there to the furnishing of them. The delay—which he regretted—had occurred mainly from a desire to make the statistics as complete as possible and reduced into a form in which they should be most available for public use. He understood it was the opinion of the gentleman who had charge of the collection of those statistics that certain improvements could be made on the English plan, and that the delay was, at least to some extent, attributable to a desire that those improvements should be carried out. But as he was not able to give his noble Friend as satisfactory a reply as he could have wished, he should not oppose the Motion if his noble Friend would consent to omit from his third Resolution the words, "and to be presented at the same time," and the words which declared that a person acquainted with the Irish courts should be attached to the Home Office.

LORD BROUGHAM
expressed his concurrence in what had been said by his noble Friend who had introduced the subject. He believed, that if proper judicial statistics had been furnished from Ireland, every shadow of opposition to the Incumbered Estates Court would have been removed in less than a year after the establishment of that tribunal. As he was speaking on the subject of statistics, he could not but mention the name of an illustrious man whose services in the advancement of statistical knowledge had been most important, but had not received the public acknowledgment to which they were entitled—he meant his late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, one of whose great measures was the International Statistical Congress. It was held three or four years ago, and brought together from various parts of the Continent, as was his Royal Highness's wish and design, men who contributed most valuable information. That congress had a most admirable effect, not only in showing the advantages of a good system of statistics, the superiority of the judicial statistics of some countries—France, for instance—as compared with others, and the means by which judicial statistics could be improved—it not only produced that important effect, but it led to a conciliatory intercourse between persons of knowledge and experience from various nations; and this, like other measures of His Royal Highness, had the 944 effect of creating goodwill among different countries, and the members of different communities, and bringing about what we prayed for daily—"the unity, peace, and concord" of all nations. He could not mention the name of His Royal Highness without bearing his testimony to the great services which the Prince Consort had rendered this country and Europe, and humanity at large, by his wise and useful designs for the general advancement. His Royal Highness must be admitted to have been a remarkable man. He had lived before his age; he had lived in advance of his age; and all his measures—all the measures of various kinds which either he originated himself or supported when they were originated by others—had been not only beneficial to this country, but to the general peace and good understanding of mankind. He might say that he had never known a man of sounder judgment. He had known another man of sound judgment—of a judgment that hardly ever failed—he meant his late illustrious Friend the great Duke of Wellington, who, with an unprecedented acuteness and singular perspicacity, had a judgment which was never at fault, so that his advice might always be followed with safety and advantage. His was a judgment which no misinformation, no false or erroneous intelligence ever misled, which no prejudice ever biassed, which no passion or feeling ever warped. Those two men—the Prince and the Duke—of them it might be truly said that the Prince was an example—a bright example—to all Sovereigns, and the Duke a bright example to all statesmen.

THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE
said, it was desirable that these Returns should be produced without delay—if not this Session, at least early next Session. There were complaints that the Irish Judges had arranged their circuits so as not to give sufficient time for the consideration of the cases that came before them. If those Judges were reduced in number, and required to work as hard as their brethren did in England, the public would be better satisfied with the way in which justice was administered.