The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY. AUGUST 7. 1937. THE GRAND JURY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 186, 7 August 1937, Page 8

The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY. AUGUST 7. 1937. THE GRAND JURY

| Uh New Zealand Law Journal has done good service in bringing forward ihe subject of. the abolition oi the Grand Jury. In this age of law reform, which lias the substantial backing of the legal profession as a whole, antiquated legal fictions are being abolished by Statute.’’ stales the journal. “Legal doctrines that have outlived their usefulness are going, and ancient institutions inust stand the test of practical vflicdenry in the cause of justice if they are to survive, (’an the Grand Jury measure up to this test?” Ihe institution oi. the Grand Jury never was part oi the law of Scotland, and in Australia it. is unknown. It was abolished in England in 1933. Ihe ground lor the retention of the Grand Jury is not based wholly upon historical considerations, but upon the fact that in time of disquiet the individual needs all the safeguards possible to be interposed between himself and the State. Judges have been known to be corrupt, some in even modern times have revealed their own particular prejudices on the Bench. Mr. Justice Ci rant ham was considered to have been one of this class. It. is possible that even stipendiary magistrates, who are nearer 1o the public than are Judges of the Supreme Courts, may trim their sails to the will of the Government in times of stress, seeing that magistrates hold office at the discretion of the Minister of Justice. I nder normal conditions the function uf the Grand Jury is superiluous. The magistrate hearing the prosecution in the first, instance is a skilled lawyer, and he has to be satisfied, not that the accused is guilly. but that the accused has a case to answer, that the prosecution has made out a j’casonablr case against the accused. Ihe Grand Jury does not go further: it hears the witnesses ol the prosecution, and decides again whether the accused shall be brought to trial. Sometimes the Grand Juries extend their functions, and for quite extraneous considerations bring in “No Bill” out of sympathy with the accused. I’he chief ground for the abolition of the Grand Jury is, however based op the i/iconvenienee caused the community on which this duty falls, namely ihe commercial community. 1 here is also the ground of expense and inconvenience in assembliiig the Crown witnesses for the purpose of their tendering evidence before the Grand Jury prior io appearing at the trial proper. All of these people, of course, are entitled to be considered, but the main point which has to be settled is whether the safely of individual liberty can be sufficiently protect'd, not in normal times, but in times of stress. In English Jaw the Grand Juror’s position and qualifications was lor a long time ill defined, which is not surprising, seeing that it probably developed out of old Saxon usage when the community as a whole was charged with the functions of keeping the peaccThe institution of the Grand Jury is generally attributed to the time of Henry the Second, who by the Assize of Clarendon, 1166. required that in each county twelve lawful men of each hundred, and four from each township, should answer on oath as to robberies, murders and thefts committed within their respective hundreds. This number was probably found rou large and inconvenient; but the traces of the institution Ion;; remained, for until dispensed with by the Juries Act of 1825 it was held to be necessary that some of the jury should be suin' 1 moned out of every hundred. In England Grand Juries were sworn to enquire only for the body of the county, and for no other pari of the kingdom., unless -they were enabled specially to do so by Act of Parliament : consequently, where a man was wounded in one county and died in another, the offender was at common law indicL able at neither, because no complete act of felony was done in either of them. This was .subsequently remedied. dearly, then, English law has not considered the institution of the Grand Jury sacrosanct against changing conditions, and there is equal reason for New' Zealand following a like course.

; Minister to Visit Deniair. i On his return journey from the ! ! Taranaki district, the acting-Minis- 1 ter of Labour, the Hon. P. C. Webb, ’ will pay a brief visit to ihe Public ' Works Department camp at Deniair. I He will discuss the matter of work- i ing conditions with the Wanganui I seVetary of th«» Zealand Work- I lers’ Union. j

1 Increased Cheese Output ' An increase of 19 tons over last sea- . son’s cheese output is revealed in the annual report of the Westmere Dairy ; Company, the meeting of which w’as ' held on Thursday evening. The bulk :of this quantity was purchased by the [ Government at the guaranteed price. ! The remainder was disposed of locally.