PRIVY COUNCIL

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1196, 3 August 1911, Page 5

PRIVY COUNCIL

A REFORM BILL. DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS. TWO EXTRA JUDGES. By TclesfaDh—Pres3 association— Conyrizbt (Rec. August 2, 9.20 p.m.) London, August 2. The Appellate Jurisdiction Bill, strengthening tho Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the direction agreed on by the Imperial Conference, has been read a. second time in the House of Lords. Lord Haldanc, Secretary of State for War, said the problem of how to place the appellate jurisdiction of tho Empire 'would never be adequately solved until there was a real Supreme Court of Appeal for tho Empire. The speakers in the recent debates had expressed the view that there was no reasoii why the Law Lords should sit in that House, but until the Constitution was dealt with a convenient opportunity had not offered for separation. . In tho meantime they must be content to lay the foundation of what was virtually a. single Court for the whole Empire. Lord Courtney, of Penwith, declared that while due deference must bo paid to the conclusion of the Conference, lie was not persuaded that in incurring the unnecessary expenditure of appointing two extra Judges they had solved the colonial problem. Tho Marquis of Salisbury stated that the important 'advice of the Conference should be followed, and he complimented the Government on its early action. THE TWO FINAL COURTS. ' CONFERENCE DISCUSSION, The proposals of ths British Government for the reform of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were explained at the Imperial Conference on June 12 by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Loreburn. After a discussion the delegates concurred in the change suggested. Lord Loreburn, in explaining tho nature of the jurisdiction already existing, said that the House of Lords heard all the appeals from tho United Kingdom. In theory every peer was entitled to sit in tho House of Lords as a Court of Appeal, but for a long time the attendance had been restricted to the judicial members— namely, the Lord Chancellor, four Lords of Appeal with any previous Chancellor, and any peer who had held high judicial office; three members formed a quorum, but the Court seldom sat with fewer than four. The Judicial Committee. ' TJlio Judicial Committee of tho Privy Council had jurisdiction, broadly speaking, in record to India, the Dominion and Colonial Courts, and certain other Courts. From this it followed that the cases dealt with might involve . old French law, Roman Dutch law,' English common law, considerably modified by statutes in different Dominions, and also the Indian Codes. It was therefore necessary to adjust the composition' of tho tribunal to the nature ot the laws with which it had to deal. Tho Judges entitled to sit on the Judicial Committee wero the Lord Chancellor, tho four Lords of Appeal, all Privy Councillors who had held nigh judicial office, two Judges with special knowledge of Indian law, and also Judges not exceeding five in number from the Dominions or colonies. If both tho House of Lords and the Judicial Committee wero sitting at the same time, a distribution of the available members was made, and the utmost care was taken to equalise as far as possible the strength in the two Courts. In substance tho personnel of the two Courts was identical, and he.had never known a case in which there had been conflict between their decisions. Questions for the Dominions. Each constituent part of tho Empire' ought to judge for itself as to the kind of tribunal it wished, and the composition of that tribunal. Whatever Court of Final Appeal in England was desired by any.of the colonies, the Home Government would wish to give effect to tho desire as far as possible, and if they would agree on the same kind of Court and the same kind of Judges, so much the better. With regard to the Privy Council, was it desired to have British Judges only? Was it desired that tho Indian Judges should take pari in the appeals from the Dominions? Was it desired that there should be a permanent Judge from. each Dominion and that those Judges should deal with all the appeals to tho Privy Council, or that tho individual Judges should with the British Judges deal only with the appeals from their respective Dominions? If desired, it could lie arranged that all tho cases from, a particular Dominion should bo heard consecutively, and a time fixed for their hearing convenient to the Dominion concerned, so that a Judge from that Dominion might be present. Suggestions for Consideration, Having regard to tho complex nature of the jurisdiction, the best course would probably b9 to have always a wide membership of the Judicial Committee and that a selection should bo made according to the nature of.the case to be tried. That was done at present, so far as there was the necessary judicial strength. His own idea was that they should add to tho Highest Court of Appeal both in the United Kingdom and for the Dominions and colonies by selecting two English Judges of the finest quality, that the quorum should bo fixed at, say, five; and that the Court should sit successively in the House of Lords for United Kin", dom appeals and in the Privy Council for appeals from the Dominions'and colonies In that way they would have substantially the same Court in its full strength for both classes of appeals. °