§ Mr. MacNEILLasked the Attorney-General whether he can state if it is the practice of the Crown in England to order a prisoner, in whose case a jury has twice disagreed, to be put on his trial a third time; if so, in how many cases for the last quarter of a century has a third trial of a prisoner taken place; and whether he can say if there are any instances in England of a prisoner being tried for a fourth time during the last century?
§ Sir W. ROBSONNo, Sir, there is no such practice, though I am informed that on charges of murder, where this exceptional condition of things has arisen, prisoners have not, in recent years, been subjected to a third trial after two disagreements of a jury; but even in cases of murder there is, and can be, no rule of practice on the subject, and I can well conceive a case the circumstances of which 467W might render it imperative that a prisoner should be put upon trial a third time, notwithstanding two previous disagreements. In the case of offences other than murder, I have no present materials upon which to supply the information demanded, though it may well be that this question has been raised in such cases; it would, however, in my opinion, depend upon the circumstances of each case whether it should properly be the subject of a third, or, perhaps, even a fourth trial. In view of the tenour of my answer, I have thought it unnecessary to go into statistics which may or may not be available.