"THE MIRACLE CALLED A JUDGE"

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 27

"THE MIRACLE CALLED A JUDGE"

, Lord Hewart, the Lord Chief Justice,, gave a delightful talk at Birmingham recently on what he himself described as "the man, or the miracle, ■ called a Judge," states the "Daily Telegraph." Responding to the toast of "Bench . and Bar," proposed by Sir Austen Chamberlain at the golden jubilee banquet of the Jewellers' and Silversmith's Association, Lord Hewart remarked: "The life of a Judge no doubt appears easy to those who have escaped it. Yet a little reflection seems to show that a good many things are expected of him. He is required to exhibit' profound and permanent impartiality, but at the beginning he has only just left the Bar, where his clients probably expected of him a complete and invisible partisanship. "From urging with remarkable clearness only one side of a case he must pass at a bound to the habit of seeing with perfect clearness both sides, and unless somebody is to be disappointed he must somehow contrive to decide finally in favour of each side. Mordlyer, he must be at one.and the same lime a cold and remote figure, a stranger to the joys 'and sorrows of human life, but somehow also a man of the world, intimately understanding' the emotions and the preoccupations of mankind. ■ "At one and the same time he must be a miracle of experience, knowledge, and sympathy, but he must also,be capable at decent intervals of asking such questions-as 'What is a Test-match?' and 'Who- is Gracie Fields?' (Laughter.) ■ '•■:r) "How can.1 a .man" reconcile these and other conflicting ■ demands? The secret consists, I fancy,- in two things: first a prolonged and.severe training a'tthe Bar; second, a'full-bottomed wig. "It is easy enough, for the man, or the miracle, who |s called a Judge, to be one person with his wig on, and another person-with his wig off, but really to satisfy in patienc? and in silence his conflicting cravings and obligation lie must have recourse to his full-bottomed wig. The stimulative advantages of that headdress were, as you recollect, recognised by the wise men of old when they set it upon the head of the Sphinx in an effort to represent the first and last of the mysteries that no one could fathom. "One other requirement is essential.' There are'three formulae or incantations which at the earliest possible moment he must accustom himself to utter frequently, vigorously, and with complacency. One is, 'In my opinion this matter, falls within a. very narrow .compass';' Hhe -second ■ is,' _ 'This argument-seemed likely at one time to raise an important and difficult question ryp6n;Vwhichi ■■' if it had arisen, I should, of",course,;; have, been -happy' to express -toy opinion, but ■as it does not, arise I heed'not refer to: it.'-(Laugh-ter;). . '■' i /■." ,„: ;/.-■;: :_;'. ■ "'iThe- third .is,. 'Speaking.for myself, I vafn" :bdund* :T6.f 6hfe*s|'—this, : tha't,-'ror

the other thing—though why a Judge should confess anything 1 have never been able to understand." (Laughter.) Once, continued Lord Hewart, the Judges were about to present a loyal address, and the draft which on e oorf r them had proposed began with the words: 'Conscious as we are of our imperfections .. ." There were j those who thought that the phrase seemed to indicate an unbecoming humility, whereupon an amendment was suggested—"Conscious as we are of one another's imperfections . ,-. ." (Laughter.)' "Perhaps some traces of that temper may still linger," added Lord Hewart, amid laughter. "There might still be a point, he proceeded, •in the text of the Apocrypha, "Woe unto them that say, 'Here is a judgment, therefore let us reverse it' For. verily., they themthemselves shall be reversed." (Laughter.) . ■ ' '■ | For himself, however,- he preferred to think rather of the bewildering perfection of his eminent colleagues. My colleagues, L believe, enjoy the complete confidence of the public," he continued. "They do no more expect to be praised for their independence, than soldiers expect to be praised for their courage. "They would, of course, be worse than useless without it. All experience shows that the law and the competent and just administration of law are j necessary to civilised society. "I am far from suggesting that my distinguished colleagues have no cause for complaint, but that is a topic hardly suitable for the present occasion. It is unfortunate, for example, if those who should know better forget, or act as if they forget, that the Act of Settlement of 1701 (which deals, among other things, with the official position of Judges) was ever passed. Lord Hewart pointed out that the last time he was in Birmingham as a Judge of Assize, his colleague was Mr. Justice Avory. "Only once in 40 years did I hear Avory1 making a joke arising out of, and in the course of, his employment," said Lord Hewart. "A learned counsel was arguing before us on a case that his client's land should be rated low because it was used only for agricultural purposes. He told us again and again, quite irrelevantly, that his client was a retired stockbroker. Ha assured us so often that the thing became almost a refrain that his client had stocked his land about his mansion house with 26 head of cattle, nine horses, 40 sheep, and 120 head of poultry. "At length, when the refrain became almost unendurable, Avory intervened with aiquestion. 'Forgive me,' he said, 'but what did. you.say your client was?' . y " 'A', retired stockbroker," was the • answer. , 'Well,' said Avory, 'perhaps he would have,been more fortunate if he had stocked his land with bulls and bears.?" (Laughter.) ; '■-■ ■-■ I