The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-31 00:00:00

THE. NORTHERN CIRCUIT.,

'Now that•the assizes on this circuit have come to'
an end, and as ther6 is much comment on the busi •
ness of,the circuit and talk of projects for diyiding
it, or taking to'rl :away. from it, a' short statement
of facts may not be without interest. •
At York
.Queen's counsel sat for, five days assist-
ing the Judges to get through the calendar, and on
two of those days twn QJeen'sounsel sat. In other
word 9, seven days' work for one Judge Was done by
",queen's houniel sitting as commissioners, and yet
two long causes were made remall'ate.
At Durham two Queen's counsel assisted the
Judges in the trial of prisoners two days each, or
four days'
work for one Judge was done by them,
and with great difficulty the assize work was got
through late on the Newcastle commission day.
At
Newcastle Queen's counsel assisted the learned
Judges in
the trial of prisoners two days, and a
heavy cause was made a remanet there.

At Carlisle one Judge remained after the com-
mission day for Appleby, and until the commission
day for Lancaster, sitting two full days beyond the
time appointed, and a heavy road case was, not-
withstanding, made a remanet.
At Appleby there were five or six ordinary cri-
minal cases and a charge of murder to try before
the single Judge in one day. There was no civil
business, and the work was done in one long day.
At Lancaster there was an unusually light calen-
dar. This enabled the two judges on the second
day to try causes, and a heavy cause list was thus
got through :ate on the Liverpool commission day.
At Liverpool, with a very heavy calendar, and the
usual great cause list, the judges have found it ne-
cessary to call in the assistance of Queen's counsel
to sit as commissioners for the trial of prisoners, and
they have sat nearly every day for a fortnight—or
rather, to be strictly accurate, Queen's counsel have
sat on ten days, and on five of these two Queen's
counsel have sat; in other words, our
judge's work
for 15 days has been
done by Queen's counsel, or
two and a half weeks' work, excluding the Sun-
days. Two of these days
Queen's counsel sat try-
ing common jury Causes.
Queen's counsel have,
therefore, eat '23 days this circuit-26 days trying
criminal and two days trying civil causes. It
may be fairly assumed from the remanets left on
different parts of the circuit, they being all
heavy causes put off to the laat, that, if tried, and if
the pressure used in other cases in order to get
through the work had not existed, the civil business
of the circuit would have required the services of a
judge one week longer than
it has taken, and it is
equally clear that without resorting to the gratuit-
ous assistance of various Queen's counsel the criminal
business of the circuit would have required the ser-
vices of cne judge one month longer than the time
taken. It would therefore have required ave the ser-
vices of three judges instead of two to get through
the work of the circuit in the ordinary time had not
the aid of most of the Queen's counsel been called in.
It is proposed to make Manchester a new assize
town. It is expected that that will materially in-
crease the local civil business, and that a great
many causes of importance now tried by consent of
parties before the Salford Borough Court to save
expense will then be tried at the assizes. It is also
certain that the commercial causes of Stockport,
Altringham, K.nutsford, and Macclesfield—great
manufacturing places in Cheshire, with a direct
railway communication to Manchester, and nearer
to Manchester than to Chester, with commercial
juries at one place, and juries of farmers at the other,
will go to the Manchester assizes for trial. There is,
therefore, every probability of a fortnight's civil
business being added to the circuit from this cause.
A strong effort is also being made to get anew
assize town for Yorkshire at Leeds or Wakefield.
The probability is that the facility of trial so given
will increase the local civil business so much as to
take nearly a week longer to try.
If two Judges, therefore, do the 'whole work
assigned to them without calling in the constant aid
of Queen's counsel to do a great part of it for them
—and however ably these learned gentlemen may
try prisoners or causes, trials in little back rooms,
where judge, and counsel, and officers, and wit
nesses, and jurymen, and prisoners are all huddled
together on a level round table, are neither so dig-
nified, nor so satisfactory to any of the parties eon-
cerned, nor to the public, as trials conducted in
open court—it follows that one's month's time
additional to that now required to get through
the circuit business, both civil and criminal, by two
Judges will be necessary; and as the circuit now re-
quires nearly two months to get through the work,
the Northern Circuit will require three months'
time to get through the ordinary business of the
circuit. Tbis it,, the sirn
1
e
ple calculation of " two and
tWo mik four," based en
factu as they exist. But