CRIMINAL TRIALS WITHOUT JURIES.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 651, 28 April 1870, Page 2

CRIMINAL TRIALS WITHOUT JURIES.

(From the Lmo Times.)

The Canadian Parliament last year passed a very remarkable Act, making a radical change in the constitution of criminal courts by dispensing with juries A writer in the Canada Law Journal for November says, " It is one of those gigantic strides in legislation the full bearing and extent of which is not at first fully perceived, but when brought into use, and its value seen, we are apt to wonder why it was not long before placed on the statute book." This is certainly an accurate description ; it is a gigantic stride in legislation, and one which requires strong evidence of its beneficial operation to induce approval in this country. A correspondent, in a position which gives him an opportunity of learning the general feeling of the country, tells us that the statute was introduced by the head of the Government of Ontario, the Hon. Mr At-torney-General Macdonald, and " that the measure has been most favorably received by the Judges, the Bar, and the general public." From the article in the journal before mentioned we find the scope of the statute to be this. Each local judge in Ontario sitting under the provisions of the statute, and for every purpose connected with or relating to the trial of offenders, is created a court of record. No regular sittings are appointed, but the court sits from time to time as occasion may require. The clerk of the peace is appointed to act as clerk of the court, and the sheriff acts in the same way as in other i criminal courts.

The jurisdiction of the court, as respects the nature of the charge, extends to all " offences for which a prisoner may be tried at a general session of the peace," in other words, " to nearly every crime, short of a capital felony, known to the law," and if convicted, " such seutence as the law allows and the judge thinks right," may be passed upon the convicted persons. The jurisdiction, however, is limited to persons committed to gaol on such charges and consenting to be tried by the judge. The procedure is this :—Within twenty four hours after a prisoner is committed to gaol for trial upon any such charge, the sheriff notifies the judge of the fact, and when the local prosecutor is ready to proceed (having received and examined the depositions and papers which the law requires to be laid before him for the purpose) he informs the judge, and an order is at once issued, and under it the prisoner is brought before the judge in the open court. A formal accusation in the nature of an indictment describing the offence (prepared in the meantime by the public prosecutor from the depositions, &c.) is then read to the prisoner by the judge as the charge against him. The prisoner is then informed by the judge that he has the option of being forthwith tried by the judge without the intervention of a jury, or remaining untried till the next court of general session of the peace, or oyer and terminer If the prisoner, as he has a right to do, declines the jurisdiction and demands a jury, he is remanded to gaol. If he consents to be tried by the judge, he is at once arraigned and called upon to plead to the accusation. If the prisoner pleads guilty, sentence is at once passed. If his plea be " not guilty," his trial is at once proceeded with, if the Crown and prisoner are both ready, or, if not ready, the proceedings are adjourned to an early day. On that day the trial is entered upon, but may be further adjourned in the discretion of the judge for the purpose of completing the evidence for the Grown ; that is, before the prisoner has gone into his evidence ; or to enable the prisoner to produce other and further evidence, of which he was not aware at the time he entered on his defence, as being material thereto. The rule as to the other proceedings, and as to evidence at the trials is the same as in ordinary cases, and before passing sentence upon the prisoner, the same questions will bo asked as in other criminal courts ; and if the pri-

[liner has anything to urge why judgment Bhould be arrested, or why Bbntence should not be passed, it is to He heard and determined by the court. Hone but barristers-at-law will be ■eard as counsel. Eg The arguments advanced in favor of ■lis procedure are, (1) speedy trial of ■risoners, and thereby a saving of exf pense; (2) the prevention of the * lengthened association of young with Hardened criminals before trial; (3) Hrovision against the injustice of keepBtp, i nn ocent persons incarcerated who Ere unable to find bail. The one arguEient in favor of a trial before a single Budge, instead of before twelve, is obBious. " What intelligent man," it is Raid, " conscious of innocence, would itot prefer being tried before an eduf Cated man, trained to the investigation Ijf facts, and above the reach of rregular influences, rather than by a lumber of men taken from the general community, utterly unacquainted pith the investigation of facts, and vith but little scope for the exercise >f their reasoning powers." This is he whole question, and it is a quesiou which is coming more nearly to he surface in England, and our crimilal courts are now the only courts in irhich a judge cannot, by.anypossilility, be called upon to decide upon acta. In Chancery, Bankruptcy, "Common Law, and Divorce, the judges lare now, in various ways, selected by phe parties to weigh and adjudicate fupon facts. It would be in the last degree unconstitutional to compel any sperson to submit to judicial decison fupon both law and fact, and more particularly so where the subject matter Aa a criminal charge. But we can believe that, even in England, ;the time is not far distant when it will fbe made optional for the prisoner to be Iried with or without a jury. I At any rate we fully concur in the 'views of our Canadian contemporary, [and consider the experiment one which, in a new country, might be safely made with possibly useful results. And we in the old country may derive advantage from observing the of the statute, and if we see fthat it works well, may in time follow the example thus set us.