The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-04 00:00:00

THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

THE experience of the last few Sessions of Par-
liament had shown such a manifest incapacity for
practical legislation by the House of Commons, and
at the same time, by a vicious system, such a virtually
ignoring of the House of Lords, by the delay of every
important measure until too late a period for de-
liberation, that it is refreshing to witness a change by
which our hereditary legislators are attaining their
legitimate functions. The debates in the Upper
House have now become the more interesting of the
two, and in the Trial of Offenders' Bill a practical
measure of some importance has been originated,
and so far expedited, instead of experiencing the
customary
delay. The most important subject, how-
ever, in connexion with the House of Lords, is the
, which is alleged to be defective
appellate jurisdiction
so as to amount to a virtual denial of justice, owing
to the small number of Law Lords, the uncertainty of
their attendance, and the repeated occurrence of an
appeal from the judgment of the Lord Chancellor
given in the Court of Chancery being given by him
from his place on the woolsack. Appeals from the
Superior Courts may be made either to the House of
Lords or to the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council, at the choice of the appellant ; but the
defects to which we have alluded have operated as a
great hindrance to the efficiency of the former Court,
which otherwise is most in favour with the public,

from the prestige attaching to its great antiquity, and
the high position and reputation of its members.
Lord PALMERSTON attempted, with his characteristic
recklessness, to solve the difficulty, by the creation of
a retired judge as a peer for life; but their lordships
indignantly rejected this unconstitutional infringement
on their privileges, and refused to admit him. As a
proof, however, that they were not insensible to the
defects which the Premier would have so uncere_
moniously remedied, nor unwilling to add to their
efficiency as the highest Court of Judicature, the Earl
of DERBY, on Thursday, after an able statement of the
whole question in its details, moved for a Select Com-
mittee to inquire whether it was expedient to make
any, and if so, what provision for the more effectually
securing the efficient exercise of the functions of that
House as a Court of Appellate Jurisdiction. The
motion was favourably received, and the Committee
appointed, from whom, of course, will emanate the
proposed remedy ; but it was suggested by the noble
mover, that, in cases of common law, the House should
call in the advice of the common law judges; in cases
of equity, that of the vice-chancellors ; and have the
power, in Scotch cases, of summoning to its aid some
of the most eminent of the Scotch judges ; all cases to
be referred to the legal members of the House, as a
Judicial Committee, which should embody the decision
of the judges in a report to be presented to the whole
House, and agreed to as a matter of form, but still
preserving to it the right of its jurisdiction. This is
a far superior remedy to the rash violation of the
Constitution involved in Lord PALMEESTON'S scheme,
and will, no doubt, meet not only with legitimate
sanction, but with public approval.