The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-15 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, June 14.
Their Lirdships met at Five o'clock.
PUBLIC-HOUSES (SCOTLAND) BILL.
The Public-houses (Scotland) Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to be committed, on the motion of
Lord KINNAIRD.
CHANCERY COURT OF APPEAL BILL.

Lord BROUGHAM said that this Bill, which stood
for second reading, was not a new Bill, for it was intro-
duced as long ago as last session, and had been lying
in abeyance ever since for the consideration of their
Lordships and the public. It dealt with a dry
subject, but when their Lordships remembered the suf-
ferings which they and their families and titles suffered
from the injuries existing is the Court of Chancery, they
would at once see the importance of a measure which
had for its object the removal of some of those evils.
Now the complaint that the Great Seal was dilatory
in its proceedings was not a new complaint,
it was as old as the days of Lord Bacon and Lord Coke.
In the seventeenth century, it was admitted by those two
eminent and learned judges that the work done by the
Lord Chancellor was greater than that done by any
two other judges in Chancery, and he believed
the office was still as much, if not more,
overburdened. Let him I just recapitulate some
of the duties of the Lord Chancellor. For ten
months in the year he had to sit in the Court of Chan-
cery, besides presiding in their Lordships' House, while
exercising its appellate jurisdiction and sitting as the
Speaker, while it was part of the duty of the Chan-
cellor to advise the Cabinet and attend to all
matters connected with the criminal jurisprudence
of the, country. That was enough to show that the
office was still overburdened with work. Tho evils
which resulted from this overburdening were too well
known to need recapitulation, but the difficulties in the
way of removing these evils were so great that he
hardly knew how to deal with them. The first
remedy which naturally suggested itself was
the separation of the judicial from the political
functions of Chancellor, but then arose the difficulty
of how to create a Court of Appeal similar to that
which now existed in the High Court of Chancery.
Daring the four years that he sat in the Court of
Chancery, there were only twelve original suits origi-
nated-in that Court—all the rest were appeals from the
court below. Considering the extent of these duties, it
was not surprising that arrears should grow up in the
Court of Chancery. In fact the number at one time was
perfectly frightful, but by great industry and hard work
he (Lord Brougham) was enabled, in the course of about
ten months, to clear off about 147 cases. Such exertions
no man would make a second time, and, perhaps, no se-
cond man would undertake such duties, and the result
was that in the course of a few years the arrears must
again accumulate. Something, then, ought to be done
for the relief of, the individual holding the office of
Lord Chancellor. And now arose the difficulties, which
he would very shortly state. The first thing to be con-
sidered was the Court of Chancery. It was said that it
would be an easy arrangement t 3 separate the equitable
jurisdiction of the Lord Chancellor from his appellate and
judicial functions. It was said, " You have only to ap-
point ehief judges in equity, and leave all the other pre-
rogatives and functions of the great seal vested in the
great minister of justice." He admitted there was much
plausibility in that scheme, but he would state
why Ihe could net give his assent to it. The
first thing to be suggested was a chief judge
in equity, who ought to be a Chancellor, minus a
Court of Chancery. But there must be an appeal in
the Court of Chancery from the Master of the Rolls,
the Vice-Chancellor of England, and the other two
Vice:Chancellors, for it would be a perfect denial of
justice to send appeals to the appellate jurisdiction of
the House of Lords, on account of the enormous expense
of such a course of proceeding. Some sort of an appeal
there must therefore be in the Court of Chancery. At
pre,eet the appeal was from the inferior judges to the
Lord Chancellor ; and no difficulty arose, because the
Lord Chancellor, being at the head of the law—being
the highest officer of the law—being at the head of the
Judges, and a person of the greatest eminence in the
profession—his very station, besides his personal quali-
fication, rendered him a suitable person to whom to ap-
peal. But, supposing tee r.ew Chief Judge in equity to
be only another Vice-Chancellor, with a higher name
and a higher salary, this difficulty would arise—that his
hearing an appeal would amount to a second trial of the
same cause by nearly the same person. An immense
portion of the business of the Court of Chancery con-
sisted of appeals. He bad certainly heard a great number
of original motions, but ninety-nine parts out of one
hundred of the great mass of business consisted of
appeal causes and appeal motions ; and, as was pro-
phesied by Mr. Canning and Mr. Romilly, in 1812,
the court had become a court of appeal. The Lord
Chancellor, except in bankruptcy and lunacy and certain
official motions, was a judge of appellate jurisdiction in
the, Court of Chancery. And what was the conse-
quence? There was sufficient business to keep that ap-
peal court sitting all the year round. The expedient of
keeping the great seal in commission, which some per-
sons thought so excellent, would rob some of the courts
of their judges, and render the Chancery judges com-
missioners, and not the Lord Chancellor himself. He
had considered this difficulty along with Lord Lynd-
hurpt, and it certainly appeared very great, but, perhaps,
not'insuperable, because on further investigation it was
possible that new minds might offer fresh suggestions.
He had the fullest confidence in the present Vice-Chan-
cellor and the other judges, but would not trust them
unless properly watched, and checked, and controlled.
Their decisions must be open to appeal and review—
not in the House of Lords, on account of the ex-
pense and delay which would be occasioned. But there
were also constitutional objections to such a course
of proceeding. These difficulties, perhaps, might be
got over; but he now came to one much greater, which
had induced him to postpone further proceedings on the
Bill. It was important to the due administration of jus-
tice that there should be a union of great judicial honour
with the greatest powers of practitioners. These advan-
tages should be combined in order to give the country
that greatest of all blessings, a pure, satisfactory, and
able administration of justice. If they did anything that
tended to lower the dignity of those who were called
upon to fill this high office—if they did anything that
should lower the dignity or obscure the splendour of the
situation—if they took away from the bar that prize
which all now looked up to, which quickened and in-
vigorated every man who put on the pleader's robe—
which quickened and invigorated the highest, down to
the obscure and plodding, though meritorious special
pleader and equity draftsman; if they took away this
stimulus to exertion—this soother of those who might
labour under temporary disappointment and privations
—it they made the bar feel they no longer belonged
to a body of which the Lord Chancellor was the
illustrious head—if they felt they no longer belonged
to a body so adorned, fortified, and exalted,
it was perfectly certain the effect would be that
we should have a lower class of men as practitioners
at the bar, and we should lower in proportion that body
out of which the judges themselves must be chosen. It
was a vain and empty error to talk of the uselessness of
the office cud its barren splendour. Its utility, he main-
tiined, was a fact—a visible fact—of daily observation
and experiecce, and daily felt by all lawyers and judges.
—(Hear, beer.) Wishing to retain all the honours, im-
portance, and splendour of the office, at the same time
he desired to have security that an unfit man should
not be pat in that high pla^e. The subject had been
carefully considered by Lord Lyndhurst and others, and
the case was found to be one which presented grave
difficulties. No office was more important than that of
the Lord Chancellor, and every one who knew the
Constitution was aware that, as far as the House of
Lords was concerned, its judicial attributes were those
which gave it the greatest weight and importance. If
this were changed it would become a useless blot in
the Constitution, because it would be a totally diffe-
rent body from that over which he once had the honour
to preside, and in which he had the supreme honour
of holding a seat. The difficulties were so great with
which the question was surrounded, the he dared
not ask their Lordships to proceed with the measure
iwhich he had first introduced in 1833. He had hopes,
o teve r, of being able to overcome the difficulties rela-
tingami he, the
appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords,
e thought in a short time some plan might be de-
vised to meet existing objections. With reference to the
great seal being in commission, he did not think there
was any very great grievance in that state of things, as
some bad ignorantlyasserted, with a one-sidedness and
obliquity of vision that was really marvellous. The
great seal- had been in commission in 1835 for eight
months, without any public
aubhlaicieen
injury;l since then two Vice-
Chancellors additional appointed, so that in
fact no evil, as far as the public interests werete concerned,
need be apprehended in consequence ot. the
suggestvgareeaatti o sealvacation
ato
being held in commission. What he would
that their Lordships should take the long
consider the whole question. He recommended them too
enter on the inquiry with unprejudiced minds, and with
a strong desire to elicit truth, and to come to a correct
conclusion. Let them do all this in the calm of the
long vacation, when the voice of party was still, when
the hum of the Commons was no more heard.--(Laugh-
ter.) He assured their Lordships he meant to be flatter-
ing and complimentary to that honourable assembly by
comparing them to so industrious and useful a body as
the bees—to a body where there was as few drones and
as little a sprinkling of wasps as
possible.—(Laughter.)
Let them take time to reflect and deliberate, and mature
their plans, without supposing that every
suggestion
way exhausted, or that what
they knew by intuition
others failed to know by experience and long practice.
Lot their Lordships do this in the calm of the long vacti-
tioa, and then they could approach the question with a
fair chance of coming to some proper determination on
it, •He greatly rejoiced that the question had been given
up to his Noble Friend at the head of tho Government.
Ilev however, recommended caution and care, and that
no plan should be hastily introduced, because there
would be a difficulty in withdrawing it when once intro-
dueed. Whatever they did he should strongly counsel
Government net to appoint two men to the new offices
unless their choice was concurred in by the voice of the
profession and the public. There was
one other point
to which he wished to draw attention. e
r lated to
Scotch cases brought before the House, which
were to
be decided without the advantage of the aid of Scotch
lawyers. He was of opinion that this was an evil that
ought,not to continue, and as no vested interests were to
he interfered with, he recommended the House to take
steles -to provide a remedy for it. The Noble and
1.e.-killed Lord concluded by moving the discharge of the
order:

Order disco arged accordingly.
,DISTRESS FOR RENT (IRELAND) BILL.
Qn the .motion of the Earl of LUCAN the Rouse
went into Committee on the Distress for Rent (Ireland)
ThwEarl of CARLISLE suggested that as there
were two Bills in the House of Commons, and one in
the 'House of Lords, which would have the effect of re-
the grievance, the Noble Lord should suspend
medying
his pleasure until they could be all considered together