TRIAL OF PEER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 243, 11 September 1935, Page 7

TRIAL OF PEER.

CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER. CASE TO PROCEED. Received September 11, 11.40 a.m. LONDON, Sept. 10. In accordance with Magna Carta, Lord Do Clifford wil be tried by the House of Lords on the charge of manslaughter, as the sequel to a motor fatality, on the Coroner’s warrant, which it was decided at the Old Bailey must be transferred to the House of Lords for trial by his peers. Lord De Clifford’s title dates back to 1299. Trials arc usually held in the Royal Gallery of tlie House of Lord, which cost £4OO to fit up for the Russell hearing. Lord De Clifford must, surrender to tlie Black Rod and stand with his head bowed until he is permitted to stand erect. The peers will assemble, wearing their robes and coronets, and will move in a procession according to rank to the gallery.

The Lord High Steward, appointed by the King for tlie occasion, will probably bo the Lord Chancellor, who will bring up the rear, carrying a white wand, which he will break as a signal that his commission has dissolved when the case is ended.

The hearing will follow the lines of the Assizes, but at the conclusion of counsel’s speeches tlie peers will adjourn to Parliament Chamber, where each, standing up and laying his hand on his heart, will declare the verdict, accompanied by the words “Upon my honour.” Thereafter the sentence will be deliberated in private rgid pronounced publicly.

The rare trial of a peer by his peers is to follow the committal tor trial of Lord De Clifford by the Kingston Magistrate on a charge of manslaughter. Lord De Clifford was driving a car which collided with a car driven by a man named Douglas, who was killed. The trial bv his peers would be avoided if the Director of Public Prosecutions reduced the charge. It is recalled that the last trial of a peer was m 1901, when the late Earl Russell was tried in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords before two hundred peers and ten Judges and found guilty of bigamy. He served three months in prison and later received a free pardon. The previous trial was in 1841.