OPTIMIST CLUB.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 24 June 1930, Page 5

OPTIMIST CLUB.

TO-DAY'S J.UMCHEON.

MR. REID'S ADDRESS.

At to-day’s Optimist Club luncheon Mr H. B. Reid was the chief guest and speaker.

Mr Reid, in an interesting address on the Jury system, traced it from very early times. He dealt at some length with the manner in which the jury list is prepared and, also the choosing of a Grand and Common jury. Mr Reid said that. sometimes grand jurymen were under the mistaken belief that they -were not liable for service on a common jury. The operation of challenging was also traversed. Mr Reid also- mentioned that" a Maori had the right to be tried by a Maori jury. This was rarely taken advantage of, said the speaker. - Some interesting observations were made on the system in vogue in Scotland. There the jury w T as composed of 15 men, and the verdict was decided by nrefans of a majority vote. In the Scottish system there was in addition a verdict of “not-proven.” This might not mean that the prisoner was not guilty, but that the Crown had failed to prove its case up to the hilt. In America, said Mr Reid, it sometimes takes 4 or 5 weeks to empanel a jury, whereas in New Zealand'it usually occupies a very short period on the opening morning. The tendency in later years in New Zealand had been to narrow down civil and divorce cases which eould be taken by a jury, and the great majority of these cases are now taken by a judge alone. This has meant a considerable saving to the country in business men’s time and in money. In conclusion, Mr . Reid read clauses 39 and 40 of the Great Magna Charter which is really the basis of our present jury system as they set out the right of a person to be judged by his peers.