§ [SECOND READING.]
§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ LORD ALVERSTONEMy Lords, this Bill is brought in to get rid of a small difficulty in the civil work of Assizes. The Juries Act of 1825, Section 22, limits the number of common jurors who may be summoned to 144. With the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor the Judges have been arranging for very extended sittings at Manchester and Liverpool, and we have assigned a Judge to take the civil work for a period of about two months and it 674 may be more. As these common jurors have to servo on criminal and civil cases, at times the number of 144 would not be enough. I therefore propose to repeal the words "not exceeding one hundred and forty-four." Exactly the same difficulty arose in connection with special jurors, and a similar course was taken in 1898 when a Bill was passed excising the limit of numbers. I provide in this Bill that the High Court shall have power to make rules so that there shall be no excessive summoning of county jurors.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Lord Alverstone.)
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD LOREBURN)My Lords, this is an eminently reasonable proposal for facilitating business, and I do not think any objection will be raised to it.
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Tuesday next.