THE Wellinigton Independent.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1711, 28 March 1862, Page 3

THE Wellinigton Independent.

Feidat, March 28, 1862. BILLS PROPOSED TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ITS NEXT SESSION. Whatever may be our opinion upon the various measures which have been forwarded to -the members of the Assembly, from the Attorney-General's Office, under the above heading, we can but express our satisfaction that the Bills have thus early been submitted to the Representatives of the several districts of the colony, as they are thereby enabled quietly to consider their principles and details, and also, if they shall deem it expedient, to obtain an expression of opinion from the respective constituencies. Opportunity is also given for the discussion of the important subjects these Bills refer to, by the public press, and we now select the "Act for regulating Juries," with the view of laying its provisions before our readers, as well as our opinion of its merits or defects. The Bill, after repealing existing Ordinances, proceeds to establish " Jury Districts "throughout the colony, with "Jury Returning Officers " for each, directing the formation of a Jury List by some person appointed by the Returning Officer, including all persons between the ages of twenty one and sixty, with certain specified exceptions. It then provides for the revision of such lists, describes the qualifications of " Special Jurors," fixes the number of " challenges " and gives to aliens the right to demand a mixed juryaboriginals not being deemed aliens, but yet to have mixed juries in cases in which any of them are interested, on the demand of any of the parties to the suit. It then directs that all special jurors actually sworn in any case, shall receive one pound, and every common juror sworn in like manner, ten shillings for each day of his attendance, and gives the Governor power to frame rules for various purposes contemplated by the Act. It will be seen from the above brief analysis that this Bill does not affect the Jury system, but simply directs the mode by which " twelve honest men shall be \ called into the box," an end sufficiently important if the dictum of a recent writer be correct, who says that this is the sole • result of the British Constitution. Such ' an end may well be somewhat difficult to ; attain, and we must say that the machin- \ cry of the proposed Act is rather cumL brous. One of the main things required

for the formation of a satisfactory Jury List, is local knowledge, and while the Act appears to recognise this, by directing that the " Jury returning Officers" are to be Resident Magistrates or Justices of the Peace, and the persons appointed by such officers to prepare lists, are to be inhabitants of the respective districts, yet it entirely passes by those Provincial officers that the Constitution Act has created, and whose local knowledge must be considerable, while the persons actually nominated may be comparative strangers to the district. We quite agree that the qualification, mode of selection, regulation, and payment of Jurors should be uniform throughout the colony, and therefore should be defined by a geueral Act, but we think that the carrying out of the provisions of suoh an Act, so far as the appointment of Jury Districts and the formation of Jury Lists, might be advantageously intrusted to ihe Provincial Authorities. A still graver defect in the Bill is, that it wholly omits all mention of Grand Jurors. Reserving for the present our opinion as to the utility of Grand Juries, we yet think that if they are to continue to discharge their present functions (and there is no hint either in this or any other of the Bills of any intended alteration in this respect) it would seem indispensible that their constitution should also be auiboratively defined and settled. In hoping that either the Government or some c. liber of the Houso may suggest amendments in this respect, we are not without a latent feeling that by the discussion of the subject of Grand Juries, some useful though perhaps unexpected results might follow, but, however this may be, we repeat our strong conviction that in a Bill for regulating Juries, it is a patent defect to leave the regulation of Grand Juries wholly unprovided for. The other Bills of the series (nine in all) we propose to discuss as opportunity may offer.