§ 109. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Attorney-General if he is aware that there is a dearth of stenographers in the Court of Criminal Appear so that transcripts of proceedings are much delayed; that prospective appellants in some cases have to serve three or four months additional imprisonment while awaiting the hearing of their appeals, which inflicts injustice, particularly on those whose convictions are quashed; and if he will take steps to remedy these injustices.
The Solicitor-GeneralOwing to the great increase in the number of appeals heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal and the shortage of qualified shorthand writers, the time taken to prepare transcripts of shorthand notes is greater than before the war, and in the average case is now just under two months. It is only in very exceptional cases that it is as much as four months. Advantage will be taken of any increase in the available supply of shorthand writers of the requisite standard. There is no other means of reducing the period in question except that, by agreement between counsel wherever possible, in order to avoid delay, irrelevant parts of the shorthand note are not transcribed. When an appeal is dismissed, the time spent by the appellant in prison before the hearing may be taken into account by the Court.