THIRD READING. (Hansard, 25 July 1870)

§ LORD ROMILLY
desired to take this occasion to insist on the necessity of appointing the best Judges whose services could be secured. There were three modes, he said, of obtaining Judges. The person of the greatest experience and eminence in his profession might be selected, and in that case he must be paid the price necessary for what he regarded as his adequate remuneration, and to induce him to relinquish his profession. Another mode was to get the cheapest man; and a man of that kind might be got at a very low rate: but if such a man were selected he ought to undergo what was imposed on persons appointed for the first time to offices in the Civil Service—that was, he ought to be subjected to a severe examination to show that he was at all fit for the discharge of his duties. Again, as a third mode, a person might be selected to fill the office of Judge who was of long standing, and was believed by his friends to be a man of learning and capacity, but a person who had failed in his profession. Now the very worst Judges would be those who were selected from 866 that class, for they were persons generally who did not possess the tact required for the application of their knowledge, a quality indispensable for the constitution of a good Judge. The question was one of paramount importance, for if, for any reason, Judges were appointed who were incapable of properly discharging their duties, great injustice would be done to the suitors, and great scandal cast on the administration of justice. He observed that a proposal had been brought under the notice of the other House for increasing the pay of Her Majesty's Ministers, and he, for one, did not think any of them overpaid; but there was no doubt that, if their places were put up to auction, persons would be found to undertake their duties for much smaller salaries. Then, however, would arise the ulterior question whether persons so elected would be fit to discharge those duties. The moment an attempt was made to get a superior class of men at a cheaper rate than they were worth, most certainly only an inferior article would be obtained, and the result would be in every way injurious to the country. He, for one, was opposed to anything like parsimony and niggardliness under such circumstances. And so with regard to the Judges—a specious parsimony would inflict a serious blow on the administration of justice. It was of the greatest importance not only that we should get the best Judges, but also that the public should believe that we had got the best Judges we could, and this could only be accomplished by selecting men who had previously gained the confidence of the public by showing that they had previously gained the confidence of their clients, and had occupied a considerable position in the legal profession. A standing of so many years merely would not be a proper qualification. Indeed, it would be better to insist upon a money qualification, and say that no man should be appointed a Judge who had not made £3,000 or £4,000 a year by his profession. In conclusion, he appealed to his noble and learned Friend on the Woolsack to make this Bill an experimental one, and confine its operation to two or three years, at the expiration of which period we should see what results it had brought about.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR
repelled the accusation that he was endeavouring 867 to get money out of the appointment of Judges. He proceeded to point out that there were often circumstances connected with an Office which rendered it a desirable one apart from the mere question of salary. It had been an almost invariable custom that a Judge, after 15 years' service, should become an ex officio Member of the Judicial Committee, and the object of the Bill was to give to such Judges £500 a year in addition to their present salary. The general objections raised by the noble and learned Lord he would, not enter into, because they were not applicable to the Bill; for the very class to which the selection was restricted was a sufficient guarantee that none but the most competent Judges would be appointed.

§ LORD CAIRNS
moved to insert the following clause at the end of the Bill:— This Act shall continue in force until the first day in January one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, and shall then cease and determine, subject and without prejudice to any appointment made or salary granted thereunder previous to that date.