GRAND JURIES,
A SAFEGUARD IN.TROUBLOUS TIMES,. (BY TELEdttAPB.—SI'ECIAI. COItttESPOKDBNT.J 1 Napier, September 21. In his charge at the Supreme Court this morning, Mr. Justice Chapman referred in an interesting manner to the constitutional position of grand, juries. In the course of his remarks to the grand jury, ho said: "Wo frequently see grand juries referred to by critics as an unnecessary and cumbrous procedure, but the mere fact that in one locality session after session you have a comparatively insignificant calendar does not determine the question, which is a constitutional question, and one of importance to the wholo community. You might go through a generation or generations of quiet times with no danger to the liberty of the subject, but the functions of the grand jury acquire marked importance in more troublesome tiraos—such times, it is to be hoped, we will never see in this country—and the custom is kept in existence for the purpose of seeing that no man is put upon his trial by the mere action of officials: that no man is put on his trial except that a grand jury of his countrymen are able to certify to tho fact that it is right that he should bo put upon his trial."
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 308, 22 September 1908, Page 8
Word Count
206GRAND JURIES, Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 308, 22 September 1908, Page 8
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