FORGOTTEN LAWS

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 September 1929, Page 5

FORGOTTEN LAWS

SOME OBSOLETE STATUTES. The imprisonment of a certain Mr Stevens for the offence of contempt of the Ely Consistory Court is a reminder of those bad old days when the Ecclesiastic Courts- were paramount in this realm and laymen went warily before their clerical masters. Little now remains of that former power (remarks George Godwin in the “Daily News”). The Reformation, the Acts of Toleration, and other measures took from these courts the bulk of their jurisdiction. It is a long time since a Church Court sentenced a layman to imprisonment; we may be very sure it has happened for the last time.

But this case is a needed reminder of the fact that there are in force a great number of statutes that have never been repealed, are the law of the land, and could be enforced at any time.

That this great body of obsolete legislation is a menace is proved by the occasional invocation of it by hardpressed lawyers anxious to press home a weak case.

Not long ago, for example, an old man was hailed before a Board of Guardians for failing to support his grandchildren. That there exists any such obligation is surely surprising; that the Act invoked in this case was one dated 1601 is even more so. The law which regulates our conduct on Sundays dates from the times of Charles 11. It might be said that it is a dead letter. In England, yes; but in Wales, no. Under this obsolete Act not long ago a miner in the Principality was prosecuted for eating sweets on the Sabbath —and was convicted.

But, of course, a higher court would reverse that preposterous decision? Not a bit of it. The man appealed. And lost.

When a Tipton, Staffs, man informed a court that his wife had been bewitched a year or two ago, he was told not to be absurd. But the law was on his side, for the law still recognises witchcraft. There was once a big body of law upon this thorny subject. It was incorporated in an Act of George 11. That Act, prescribing the penalties for practising witchcraft, is still good law. How many people are aware that in hiring a boat on Sunday they are aiding and abetting its owner in breaking the law? Yet such is the case. It is illegal to eat a meal of more than two courses, to go out of your parish for the purpose of meeting, to play football if you are a seaman, servant, fisherman and so forth. Every session sees more Statutes go on the Statute Book. Now and then Statute Law Revision Acts are passed to repeal these ancient enactments, yet many still remain. So, too, with the little-known power of obscure courts. They are overlooked, as the Ely Consistory Court case demonstrates.

There are tribunals as ancient and as obsolete as the above-cited Statutes. Once useful, they became the instruments > of unscrupulous moneylenders. The Derby Court of Record, for instance, fell on evil days and became the oppressive instrument of the unscrupulous moneylender. It had practically no other business. Most judgments went by default, since the poor debtor could not afford to come from some other part of the country to defend. The Bristol Court of Pie Poudre is another instance. In this quaintly named tribunal, in one recent year, 1899 plaints were heard, the majority being moneylenders’ actions. So, too, with the Salford Hundred Court, no fewer than 15,765 writs were issued in a single year. Nearly all moneylenders’ actions. How many such courts are there? No fewer than 115. The functions of most of these have been transferred to the county courts by an Act of 1846, but in any case, like the ancient laws referred to above, they have long outlived their usefulness and should be scrapped. While they exist they are a menace—just as many will regard the wide powers of the Ely Consistory Court as a menace to the liberty of the subject.