The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-30 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PAPER.

:ORDERED 'lO 11 1: PRINTED SY TUE ROUSE OF COHHONS•]

Report of the Commissioners for exarniniog into
the Duties,palaries, and Emoluments, of the Officers, Clerks,

and Ministers, of the several Courts of Justice, in England.
TO THE ICING'S MOST EXCELLENT' MAJESTY, IN HIS

HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY.

His late Majesty, King George the Third, was pleased to
issue certain Commissions, under the Great Seal, bearing date
respectively the ninth day of February, in the fifty-fifth year
of his reign, the third day of June in the fifty-sixth year of. his
reign, and the first clay, of February, in the fitly-seventh
year of his reign, and also to issue a warrant under his Royal
Sign Manual, bearing date the thirty-first day of December,
in the fifty-ninth year of his reign ; and your Majesty was
pleased to issue a Commission under the Great Seal, bearing
date the fourteenth day of March, in the first year of your
Majesty's reign, and also to issue a Warrant, under your
Majesty's Royal Sign Manual, bearing date the twelfth day of
December in the second year of your Majesty's reign. By
virtue of these several Commissions and Warrants, three or
more of the Live Connnissioners therein respectively named,
were authorized anti _ appointed to make a diligent examina-
tion of the Duties, Salaries, and Emoluments, of the seve-
ral Officers, Clerks, anti Ministers of Justice (amongst ether
Courts in the said Counnissions and Warrants particularly men-
tioned or referred to) of and within your Majesty's Courts of
Admiralty and Prize Courts, within that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the do-
minion of Wales, and town of Berw ick-dpon-T weed ; and of all.
Officers, Clerks, and Ministers of Justice of and within all other
your Majesty's Courts of Justice, in such part of the United
Kingdom; and also to make a diligent examination what re-
gulations might be fit to be established respecting the Duties,
Salaries, and Emoluments Of the said several Officers, Clerks,
and Ministers of Justice :—And we your Majesty's Commis-
sioners having, as to the High Court of Admiralty, in the va-
rious branches of its jurisdiction, the High Court of Delegates,
and the High Court of ,Appeals for Prizes (so far as we have
been able), completed the examinations directed to be made,
do, pursuant to the liberty given to us to certify our proceed-
ings, from time to time, unto your Majesty, In your Majesty's
High Court of Chancery, humbly certify what we have found
upon the examinations directed by the said Commissions and
Warrants to be made, touching or concerning the duties, ma-
larks, and emoluments of the Officers, Clerks, and Ministers
of Justice of the said Court of Admiralty, Court of Delegates,
and Court of Appeals for Prizes, and what regulations we
think tit to be established respecting such duties, salaries, and
emoluments.

In our Reports as to the Court of Common Law held in
iVestminster Hell, and as to the Ecclesiastical Courts held at
Doctors Commons, we have compared the fees now received
by the Officers of those Courts, with the fees contained in the
presentments filmic by
.Juries acting under the Royal Com-
missions for inquiring into Courts of Justice, Issued in and
shortly after the year 1732. %Ire have followed the same
course in this Report, so far as regards the fees of the Of.
'kers of the High Court of Admiralty, and of the High Court
of Delegates. The Lords Commissioners acting under the
Commissions last referred to (in exercise of the powers grant-
ed to them) caused Sub-commissions to be issued to dif.
ferent persons; for the purporie of conducting the necessary
investigations as to different Courts ; and Juries were ini-
pannelled and sworn before these Sub-commissioners, to make
as to their fees. The presentments of the Juries were laid
the requisite inquiries as to the Officers of each Court, and
before the. Sub-cominissioners, and were submitted by them,
with their observations thereon, to the Lords Commissioners;
but their LordShipsdid not make a Report to his Majesty as
to any court, excepting the Court of Chancery. Copies of the
Presentments 'of the Juries, and of the Reports of the Sub-
CommissionerA, were laid before the House of Commons in
the year 1757, and are now in the repositories of the House;
hot whether tile original Presentments or Reports are to this
time in existnrire we bay.. been otoiffie In ascertain. 117
rf-
merittoent of rim . ury sworn to engtore as to the Officers of the
Court of Admiralty, was made on the 12th of March, 1734 (old
In regard to the lligh Court of Delegates, two Pre-
sentments were made by different Juries ; one, on the 24th of
March, 1734 (old stile) and the other, on the 19th of November,
1735. The Pecs mentioned in these two Presentments to be re-
ceived by the Officers, are the amine • but the Presentment of
the later date contains various additional observations of the
Jury, by whom that Presentment was made, founded chiefly
on Rills of Costs of ancient date produced to them, which the
Jury, first impannelled had been unable to obtain. The Re-
ports of the Sub-Commissioners on the Court of Admiralty and
the Court of Delegates, dated respectively on the 25th March
and 29th November, 1735, contain their observations as well on
those Courts, as on other Courts mentioned in their Commission.
In our Report as to the Court of King's Bench, made on the
sth of January 1819, we have entered at large into the forma-
tion of the Juries, and the mode of proceeding adopted by
them in conducting their inquiries Into the different Courts.—
We deem it sufficient to state. in this place, that where a fee
now received appears to have been taken at the date of the
presentment, and we had no reason to believe that such fee
had not been uniformly taken from that time, we have gene-
rally considered such fee as proper to be allowed, and have,
in some cases, recommended its allowance without note or
comment. We have not, in general, referred formally to the
opinions of the'Juries in favour of the legality or particular
fees, and we have not, after the lapse of nearly a century,
considered the objections made by them to other fees (many of
which were, at the date of the presentment, of considerable
antiquity) as forming a sufficient ground, at the present time,
for recommending the discontinuance or Life diminution of it.
In regard to the allowance of Fees increased beyond those
received at the date of the presentments, and of Fees on occa-
sions not mentioned in those documents, we have been guided
by the same general principles as in regard to the allowance of
Pees under similar circumstances in the Courts on which we
have already reported. The principles are particularly stated
in our First Report as to the Court of Chancery, dated on the
29th of April, 1816. The length of time for which a Fee has
been receivisl,
though not traced to the date of the present-
ment, the reasonableness of its amount as compared with the-
dffiutcyo performedin and the general circumstances of the
o
which fo
it is i
tatiten, have been carefully weighed by us
in forming our recommendation as to each Fee, which the pre-
sentment does not contain. We have not recommended the
allowance or, disallowance of any Fee not mentioned in the
presentment'', without making some note or comment thereon.
In regard to the High Court of Appeals for Prizes, no in.
quiry appears to have been made under the Commissions
issued in and shortly after the year 1732: This Court was not
mentioned or referred to in the Sub-commissions issued under
the authority of the Lords Commissioners, and consequently,
no Presenthtettt or Report was made respecting it. In the part
of our Report 'which relates to the different Officers of that
Court, we havo stated the earliest evidence which we have been
able to obtain of the receipt of the fees ;
and this evidence,
combined with considerations of the reasonableness of the
fees,' and the circumstances of the office, has been the ground
of our recommendations as to the Fees to be taken in that
Court for the future.-
There are some Fees mentioned in the, presentments as
claimed by particular officers of the Omits Of Admiralty and
Delegates, Which Fees, in consequence of variations in the
practice of the Courts, or other circumstances, has ceased to
those officers. We have considered it unneces.
sary to enter Into an-
m
y detailed statement respecting the causes
of
fe
mrtelecietivaeed bßestion
of
leto Fees in tier the Fees, or even to specify these obso-
Report. Should 'Fables of Fees hereafter be
constructed by competent authority, we do not desire to pre-
clude the officers from establishing any title which they may
have to such Fees, in case it should appear to the persons by
whom the tables may be constructed, that the officers may be
regularly called upon to perform the duties to which those
Fees were once annexed, in 'addition to the duties which they
now execute, and that none of the Fees, recommended by us
to be allowed are properly to be taken as remunerations fur
such additional duties.
We have stated all the Fees and Emoluments, which, from
tire returns and examinations of the officers, or otherwise, have
a_ppeared to its to be in fact received by the different officers of
the Courts treated of in this Report, or in their offices, at the
present time. We have no reason to believe that any other
Emoluments are received; and our recommendations have been
founded upon the presumption, that all the Fees and Emolu.
ments received by the officers, their deputies or clerks, have
been disclosed to us. Should any Fees or Emoluments he in
which (a 4 not having been returned to us) are not
icttak
mentioneden in this Report, we are of opinion that they should
not be-received in future.