The Sun.
London, England, 1829-04-13 00:00:00

(FROM THE MORNING CHRONICLE-)

Now that the incubus which has so long pressed
on the Councils of the nation is at length removed—
thanks to the :firmness and good sense of the Duke
of Wellington—time may be found for attending to
some of those Reforms of our Institutions which are
imperiously required to render them available to the
wants of age. Among the subjects that will first
engage general attention is, the First Report by the
Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Prac-
tice and Proceedings of the Superior Courts of
Common Law, just distributed, which, with the
Appendix, makes a folio volume of nearly 800
pages. DM? Report alone extends to 117 pages.—
Of the twelve heads embraced by the Cor. mission,
the Commissioners at present confine their :Leport
to two, namely-
1. The Dispatch of Business :
In the Superior Courts of Common Law,
At Westminster,
In the Counties Palatine,
In Wales.
Y. Process Serviceable or Bailable :
Including Original Writs,
Outlawry,
Arrest, and
Bail.
Before proceeding to the immediate subjects of
their Report, the Commissioners say—
" We shall have no hesitation in proposing the abolition,
as far as practicable, of fictions, circuitous courses, and
such matters of mere form, as by the progress of time have
ceased to be necessary to the purposes for which they were
introduced, but which increase the length, and conse-
quently the cost of proceedings—always keeping in view
the condition mentioned by Lord Bacon, that the entire
body and substance of the law shall remain, only dis-
charged of idle and unprofitable matter.' We shall sug-
gest the abridgement, in many cases, of the form and lan-
guage of pleading ; some restraint upon the unlimited
multiplication of counts and pleas ; and an acceleration of
every part of the suit, by allowing process to be returnable,
pleadings to proceed, and final judgment, under certain re-
strictions, to be signed, not only upon default, but after
verdict, and execution to be issued thereon, in Vacation
as well as in Term.

" But whatever may be the cost, delay, or vexation oc-
isiimed by unnecessary forms, by interlocutory applies-
tines, or even by prolixity of pleadings, we are well con-
vinced, that in actions which proceed to this extent-of trial,
there is no isurthen imposed upon the parties to be placed
t in comparison with the eTpence and inconvenience

occasioned by requiring the personal attendance of wit-
ne6ses for the proof of facts which there is no real ground
tot dispute.
!t, We have, therefore, spared no pains in endeavouring to
dlicover means by which the personal attendance of wit-
messes may be dispensed with, consistently with the attain-
m6tt of justice ; and though we are not at this moment
peepared to submit to your Majesty the result of our de-
li4erations upon this particular subject, we trust that in a
f4ure report upon the third and fifth heads, we shall be
able to show that the body of parole testimony required
upon the trial of a large proportion of causes may be ma-
terially and safely diminished by narrowing the question to
be tried to a few precise issues, and by the adoption of
proceedings for establishing the proof of certain matters
previous to trial."
The Commissioners give an account of the busi-
ness before the respective Courts for the last five
years, and allude to the various attempts which
have been made to facilitate dispatch in the Court
of King's Bench. They then pass in review the
various propositions which have been made for ef-
fecting something like an equalization of business in
the Courts, and come themselves to this conclu-
sion :—" We apprehend that this great object may
be attained by identifying, in every respect, the
rules of practice which govern their proceedings (a
matter in which great and inconvenient variety at
present exists) ; by destroying the necessity of the
four Attorneys and sixteen Clerks in Court in the
Exchequer, and throwing the Court open like the
rest to the free access of all attorneys; by relieving
that Court from its equity jurisdiction ; and by
giving to the three Courts the same advantages,
and placing them on the same footing in respect of
the mode of appeal from their decisions." It is pro-
posed that the Exchequer shall become exclusively a
Court ofLaw ; that the Court of Error for the review

of its ju►lgments should consist of the other two
Courts; that the King's Bench and Exchequer should
review the Common Pleas, and the Common Pleas
and Exchequer review the King's Bench as atpresent.
All Attorneys qualified to practise in the King's Bench
and Common Pleas to be likewise admissible to prac-

rise in the Exchequer. With respect to Serjeants—
the Qommissioners say, " we believe that the.cha-
racter of the Court—(of Common Pleas) for the
satisfactory transaction of business, will be better
sustained by the continuance than the abolition of
the exclusive privilege." But upon motions where
a cause has been tried on circuit, the Barristers en-
gaged on such trials, though without the rank of
Serjeant, should have audience in the Common
Pleas; and they recommend the abolition of an
established professional usage, which precludes any
Seijeant, though he may be one of his Majesty's
Serjeants, from opening the pleadings on trials at
Nisi Prim:. With respect to the number of Judges,
the Commissioners think that not more than five
Judges should at any time sit together in Banco—
and that one Puisne Judge should be exempted in
totation from attendance in Court each term. The
sittings should be continued from day to day
throughout the term, excepting in the case of attend-
ance in the House of Lords, when required on spe-
cial occasions. The moveable Terms to be fixed.

The practice and rules for taxation of costs, &c. to
be made uniform in all the three Courts. -The fol-
lowing days are proposed for the commencement and
ending of the several Terms, viz:—
Hilary Term to begin Jan. 14, and end Feb. 3.
Easter Term to begin April 10, and end April 30.
Trinity Terni to begin June 1, and end June 21.
Michaelmas Term to begin Nov. 1, and end Nov. 21.
In case of arrears of business in any of the three

Courts, the Lord Chancellor may order the transfer

of ;tenons, &c. from tile overburthened Court to
another less occupied. ~The jurisdiction of the se-
veral Courts of Great Sessious in the County Pala-
tine of Chester and Principality of Wales to be disd
continued, and those parts of the kingdom
brought under the Law Courts at Westminster.
Certain portions of the Principality contiguous to
the counties of Chester, Salop, Hereford, and Mon-
mouth, recommended to be placed within the juris-
diction of the Judges appointed to hold Assizes at
the shire towns of those counties respectively. The
rest of Wales to form four districts—the Northern,
:Midland, South West, and South East, of which
`the assize towns to be Bangor, Dolgellan, Caer-
'marthen, and Neath. It is proposed that Stafford
and Salop should be withdrawn from the Oxford
Circuit, and that the South-west and South-eastern
Disti icts of Wales be added thereto. It isproposed
that the additional circuit to be established shall

comprehend the two places withdrawn from the Ox-
ford Circuit (viz. the counties of Stafford arid
Salop), the two North Wehh Districts ; the Dis-
trict of Chester, including Flintshire, and the East-
ern part of Denbighshire, and also the town of
Manchester, with the rest of the hundred of Sal-
ford, in the County of Lancaster. To avoid the
inconvenience from holding Assizes at two places
in the same county at the same time, the Chester
Circuit to he so arranged that when the Northern
concludes in Lancashire, the Assizes at Manchester

_
should be appointed to be held at the beginning of
the Chester Circuit, and vice versa. The population

of Liverpool and West Derby Hundred, which amounts
to more than 270,000 Inhabitants, and with Leyland
to more than 300,000, and Manchester and Sal-
ford to more than 300,000, make it expedient towards
those places that separate Assizes be holden within
thew. The compensation necessary to parties is
estimated at 100,0001.; and it is proposed that to
meet it a moderate duty, bearitt some proportion
to the saving expected to be made upon the whole
suit, might be imposed upon law proceedings, to
continue till the compensation be discharged. Our
limits will not allow us at present, to allude to the
recommendations of the Commissioners under the
second head. We shall advert to them to-morrow.