BRITISH JUDGES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21983, 14 December 1934, Page 13

BRITISH JUDGES

LORD HEWART'S STAND

VISCOUNT SANKEY TO REPLY OPEN CONFLICT DEPLORED EFFORTS FOR AVERTING By Telesrraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received December 13, C.60 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 12 The Leader of the House of Lords, Viscount Hailsham, in replying to the Marquess of Reading, said there would be a special sitting of the House on Friday to give the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Sankey, a chance to reply to the allegations of Lord Hewart, Lord Chief Justice, regarding the appointment of Court of Appeal Judges. Without a special sitting the subject could not be taken until after the Christmas recess It was undesirable that statements which had been made in the course of the debate should remain so long before being dealt with by the .Government. The Daily Herald says that supreme efforts are being made to avert an open conflict between Lord Hewart and Viscount Sankey. The Lord Chancellor is expected to deliver a strong speech on Friday establishing the Government's bona fides. The Cabinet realises that if it gives way to Lord Hewart completely, that action will involve Viscount Sankey's resignation.

Lord Justice Slesser's friends openly state that he is the victim of a vendetta organised in Government circles.

LEGAL CONTROVERSY CONSTITUTION OF COURTS KING'S BENCH AND APPEAL The dramatic encounter in the House of Lords regarding the Judges of the High Court has, as its two protagonists, the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Sankey, and the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Hewart.

The Lord High • Chancellor, the " Keeper of the King's Conscience," is the head of the legal profession in England. The appointment is a political one, made by the Prime Minister when choosing his Ministers, and the Lord Chancellor vacates office when his Government resigns or the party is defeated at the polls. An ex-Lord Chancellor, however short a time he may have been in office, is entitled to a pension of £SOOO a year. This pension is now being paid to Viscount Hailsbam, the present Minister of War. A Judicial Position The position of Lord Chief Justice of England is a judicial, not a political one. He is appointed from among the Chief Justices of the Court of Appeal usually, although any qualified person might be so appointed. He holds office as does any* other Judge of the High Court, and does not go out of office with the Government. His salary at present is £BOOO a year. The Court of Appeal, the vice-presi-dency of which is one of the points in the present controversy, consists of four ex-officio Judges, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, and the President of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, and also the Lord Justices of Appeal, of whom there are at present five, including Sir Henry Slesser. The Master of the Polls, at present Lord Hanworth, is the Keeper of the National Records, which include Domesday Book, the Papal Bull appointing Henry VIII. as " Fidei Defensor," Defender of the Faith, and the famous " Scrap of Paper." The placing under one head of the curiously assorted and quite different .functions of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Divisions is due to historical reasons. Divorce as an ordinary legal procedure in England dates back only to late in the last century. The other divisions are the Supreme Court of Judicature, the Court of Appeal, the Chancery and King's Bench Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal, quite a recent institution. Lord Hewart as Critic Lord Hewart takes exception to the clause in the bill now before the House of Lords which seeks to limit the number of Judges in the King's Bench Division. This Division deals with common law cases, .and at present consists of the Lord Chief Justice and 17 other Judges, whose salary is £SOOO each. They, and the Judges of the' Chancery Division, correspond to our Supreme Court Judges. Judges are appointed by the Lord Chancellor, who is a member of .the Government for the time being, and the appointment largely depends on the recommendation of the Chief Government Whip, who is a member of the party in power and is Parliamentary secretary to the Treasury. Lord Hewart has been an outstanding and outspoken critic of the increasing tendency shown by Governments, including the present National Cabinet in Britain, to delegate powers to Government Departments. A book published by Lord Hewart on this theme aroused a great deal of interest, with its criticism of the growth and evils of " bureaucracy." This, no doubt, is a matter which has added piquancy to the present controversy between him and the Lord Chancellor.