Star.
London, England, 1824-03-31 00:00:00

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Commission of the Peaee.—The Petition from the Free.
masons of Ireland was received ; and
Mr. BROWNLOW-pcesented a similar one fro-ht the
Freemasons of the County of Arniagh. The Honour,
able Gentleman quoted the opinion, of Baron Maclellan,
.as;to the mischievous nature of these processions.-,-He
thought the Freemasons were entitled to the considera-
tion of the House, from their being a charitable society,
at a Prince td the Blood at their head. The
Freemasons of Ireland were entitled to the same privi-
leges as those of England.
ABERCROMBY seid, that the Hon. Member;
hid been told last Session of the effects of hit Bill, -and'
those effects were now admitted to have been right.--
On this subject, much more could be done by influence
than by legislation. He was sort,- that meskin high
stations should lend the support of their name losd au-
thority to these Associations. Such men should be told,.
that they were not to look for the favour of Govern-
ment when they adopted such a line of conduct. —The
Petition was ordered to lie on the table.
FEES OF COURTS OF JUSTICE IN SCOTLAND.

•Lord A. HAMILTON rose to submit a motion to re-
Fer the Reports. of Commissioners of Inquiry into the
Fees of Justice in. Scotland to a Committee of the whole
,I-fonse. He rev ettedb that while the Coratnissionets
appointed for the same object in Ireland had done so
much, and while certain, usefuraneasures were the result
of their labours, the same good effect had not attended
the labours of the Scotch Commissioners. He had
waited till all the Reports were made, and he saw that
no deCisive o.easities had yet been adopted in pursuance
of the recommendation in the Report: In the course he
now meant to take he would first point out what the
Reports of the Commissioners recommended ; then how,
' much had been done ih pursuance of the recommends=i
true ; and lastly, how much remaine4 to be done. But"
before he proceeded to shew how slow the work of re-
formation went on, it would be necessary to inform the
House that a Bill passed only last year, abolishing the
inferior Commissary Courts, though it had been recom-
mended by. a Commission so far back as 1808. As to
the Report, it would-appear, that though a Commission
had been appointed, no measure—at least no adequate
measure; had been yet adopted upon their suggestion, and
yet this Commission must have cost the country 40,0001.
at least. There were five Commissioners who sat fur-
seven or eight years, at an expense of 5000/. a-year.—
Th 6 sum total of the annual saving recommended by
the Commissioners, amounted to 20,000/. a-year, of
which (1,0001. a-) ear would have been saved to the
Public and 12,0001. to the suitors in the Court. Now,,
he asked if Government had not a right to carry into
ffect this recommendation if practicable ; and yetavhat.
had they done? Why not one fourth of that sum wiks
reduced, the utmost amount of reduction being onlari
.5,001)1.? - With regard to the retrenchment of offices,'
the same negleet'veas apparent. The, number of offices,
reccmmeirdeo to be abolished was ninety, while the'
number redly abolished did not amount to fifteen, not
including those in the inferior Commissary Courts. • In
the Court of Session, cut of ten offices proposed to be
abolished, only three were really abolished. In the
same Court, though a faring. of 6,0001. a-year was re-
commended, a reduction of only 1,6001. a-year took
•place ; and if the compensation to Judges' Clerks were
deducted,* there' would be a sating of no more than
three hundred and eighty pounds a-year. In fact,
not one hill of what was recommended was abolished.
With respect to the ten offices of this Court, if a Com-
mittee were granted him, he was prepared to prove the
practicability of 'abolishing them. The next were the
Commissary courts and inferior Commissary Courts.
In Edinburgh, of five offices recommended to be abo-
lished, only one was abolished ;'but -with regard to the
inferior Courts, a Bill had passed which put in effect all
that had been recommended. As to the amount of re-
duction in the Consistory Courts of •El f3oorecommencled,
only £4OO was reduced. -In the Chancery department,
notwithstanding the abuse stated in the Sixth Report
of the Commissioners to exist iu it, nothing had been
done. In one branch of this department, the duties
were done by a deputy with a large salary. He begged
to call the particular attention of the House to the
amount of treatment money given to the clerks in this
department. In 1816, it was £677; in .1817, £800;
and in 1818, £680._ This continued, notwithstanding
the recommendation of the Commissioners to put it on
a different footing. The next was the Exchequer Court,
in which one of the Baronships and the office of Deputy
Remembrancer were recommended to be abolished;
and though no persons were appointed to these offices,
which were now vacant, still they were not yet abo-
lished by any legislative enactment. lie was prepared
to prove that four Barons were fully competent to the
busine-s. The salaries of these two offices also were
not yet reduced, for the same reason, because Govern-
ment had the power of renewing them iE they pleased.
In the Court of Chancery, out of £5OOO recommended,
not one shilling had been reduced. The Noble Lord
here referred to the Report, to shew the enormous
abuses which exi.qed in this department. The next was
the Lion Court, in which, though 10004 was recommend-
ed, no reduction took place. Then followed the Courts of
Justices ofthe Peace,-in which-nothing had been done,
though the ninth Report recommended an abridgment
of the proceediags, particularly in Excise cases. They
also recommended that the small debt jurisdiction
, should be extended, and that something like the County
Court Bill should be introduced ; but nothing had yet
been done. The jurisdiction now extended only to £5,
and it was recommended that it should be extended to
£lO. With regard to this, he had made up his mind
to introduce a Bill similar to the County Courts Bill.—
'The-last were the Borough Courts, :and certainly no
subject ever required more investigation or reformation.
It occasioned him no little surprise to see twelve Re-
ports of Commissioners on the table, and the recom-
mendation of none of them carried into effect. In the
last Report, many of the charges for processes in the
Courts were stigmatised as illegal extortions. Any person
comseeted with' Scotland was entitlid to .call an the
Noble Lord (Lord Advocate) For some explanation—
nay more, for some reniedial measures. The Noble Lord
then recapitulated the several, Reports, and the Courts
to which they referred, and concluded by moving—
.. That the twelve Reports presented by the Commissioners of
Inquiry on the Courts of Janice in Scotland be referred to a Corn.
Muer. of the whole House."
The Amendment having been seconded,
• The'LORD ADVOCATE said, there was a difficulty
of understanding what the Noble Lord exactly meant by
his motion, though its object' might be surmised. If he
had moved that any one of the Reports be referred to a
Select Committee, to inquire what had been done on it,
•the meaning would have been obvious, and not lialfle
to the same objection of obscurity with the present tap-
Oen. The Noble Lord'had been most attehtiveto pet-
sons filling the office which Ik (the Lord Advocate) did,
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but he denied that there was any inclination on his port
to carry into effect the recommendation of the Repo' r,
Any person who read the Reports must see there was a
great deal of most valuable information in them, and
most valuable historical accounts of the different offices
to which they referred. It was to be observed, that none
of these Reports complained that anythingwas sadi-
cally wrong in the constitution of these ofkces; they. re-
commended some few fees to be aisigghtz& 1-The-Com-
mission inquired into the fees of nine,ditTeretti:couns4
Justice in Scotland. There was !I general instruction to
inquire into the Courts of Justice, under-which they car-
tied their researches into two Courts noe properly Cool-
of Justice. The one of them was,-.the Cittlft of;Lion,
equivalent to the Garter King of Arms in England.--
With that office he did not think the CemMissioners ha I
any right to interfere, as it was within the King's Fit,
rogative, and he'took measures to preirent them. Th.
other was the Court of Chancery ; not the Court
Chancery as was understood in England, but a mere
office, whence certain writs issue. The Director was (1.,
Earl of Rosslyn, and under him were a Depiity and two
Officers. The Commissioners inquired - into the office,
and recommended the fees to be continued; at not
excessive. By the 51 of Geo. 111. chap. 54, provision
was made for the regtilation of certain offices, by which
the surplus of the fees- were to go re the pliblie;44
among those the two offices in question were includeZ
The' Learned Lord then-went through the constitution
of several other Courts, including the Court of -Session,
the Court of Exchequer, and the Court of Justiciary,
and shewed that they were all competent to regulate
themselves by the prevision of several Acts of Parlia-
ment, which he quoted. With Cigar(' to the Commis-
sary Courts, he brought in last year a Bill to regulate
them, but received the most decided opposition from
the other side of the House. He was then placed io.a
difficult situation ; when he did not bring a Bill before
the House, -he was charged with neglect of duty' ;''bit
when he did introduce it, he was opposed bithe No*
Lord at every step he took. If ever there was in Alt'
entitled to the support of the Noble Lord, it was that
to which he alluded, as it went the length of abstraet-
ing twenty-three patent offices from the Crown. It
,the first instance where an officer of the Crown pro-
posed the abolition of twenty-three patent offices,
and that it was opposed by the other side of the
House—(Hear, hear). It was, howiver, received in
Scotland as a valuable boon, and gave general Satisfac-
tion. The next Court was the Sheriff's Court. To te•
gulate that he brought in a Bill last year, but withdrew
it on finding that a Commission was appointed by the
other House, which would reach that Court in the course
of iti inquiries. However, the Sheriff's Court was at-
tended with good effect in administering justice; and
. the best proof of it was, that the appeals item it to the
superior tribunal did not exceed one in 117. The tame
reasons prevailed with respect to the Borough. Courts.
The Report of the Royal Commissioners was yet not
Le-
fore the House; and he waited until it was to introduce
any measure. The Noble Lord next alluded to the Cour s
of Justice, where sums not exceeding five pounds were
recoverable. It was suggested to extend this jurisdiction,
as the facility of recovering by a summary process so
small a Sum-as five pounds only gave facilities to credit.
He was led to doubt the ill -effects of the system, from
the consideration that out of 212 in the jail of Edin-
burgh for debt, 132 were there for sums under tiv6
pounds. There were last year 8,700 causes tried in the
Courts, and as the Sheriff or his Deputy had to preside,
'there was-a great and unnecessary duty thrown on them';
He considered that the administration of justice in that
respect was worthy of the attention of the Noble Lot d,
and he should, instead of his present general motion,
have moved to ,refer the Report respecting the
Justices in . Scotland ;o a Select Committee. Is was
his opinion that the Gentlemen of Scotland, the.
Justices of the Cotirg, should be admitted to a greater
share in the administration of justice, and that they
were entitled to preside in the Courts of Session. It
was an opinion he had long entertained, and he was con-
vinced an arrangement to that effect would be attended
with great and genet al.advantage. It occurred too fre-
quently that the prisoner remained from Session- to Ses-
sion without trial. The Justices of Scotland had-arduous
duties to perform, but particularly in times. of. public
commotion, when-they were left without assistance from
the Noble Lord opposite, and others, who went away,
no doubt, because they felt they would be of no use.—
Those Gentlemen left all the labour on the Lord Ad-
vocate or the Sheriffs, ashen they might naturally.- be
looked to for countenance and wpport. Having.shewn
that out of the nine Courts reported upon, Aix re-
gulated themselves, and that two were under the Consi-
deration of the Royal Commissioners, he would dispose
of the other by moving as an amendment, that the Re-
post relative to Scottish Justices be referred to a Select
Committee.
"Mr. A RERCROMBY thought the Learned Loyd had
out a prospect of reform ; in that he was fully dis-
posed to co-operate. What the Learned Lord .had
stated was strictly true. He was extremely desirous of
seeing-the system of Grand Juries introduced into Scot-
lend ; but until that could be done, nothing could be
more valuable than allowing the Gentry to .have a
Alcatel- share in the administration of justice in .that
fibuntry. He hoped the Learned Lord would include,
in the inquiries of the Committee, the propriety of seeing
whether Grand-Juries could not be beneficially intro-
duced into Scotland ; if the Learned Lord did not, he (Mr.
Abercromby)should feel it his duty to move to that effect.
Lord BINNING thought the case made out by the
Noble Lord was completely answered by the Learned
Lords He deprecated the hasty adoption of sweeping
changes, but would recommend the Honourable and
Learned Gentlemen opposite to allow the Learned Lord
to carry into effect, in the cautious, disci iminating mode
which he was about to act, the disposition which he en-
tenained to make the necessary alterations recommended
by the Commissioneri.
Mr. HUME praised the perseieranei of his' Noble
Friend below him, in bringing forward this subject 50
frequently befori the House. He was sure list if only
one-tenth part. of the arguments urged by his Noble
Friend that evening were attended to by the House,
they would see the propriety of agreeing to the motion-
Mr. KENNEDY wished to know if it was the inten-
tion of the Learned 'Lord to proceed with the inquiry
which he promised chit Session?
The LORD ADVOCATE said he must first consult
those in Scotland interested in the icqu;rl, before he
pledged himself to any course.
Mr. ABERCROMBY said he was surprised to find
that the Learned Lord had note any doubt upon the
propriety of going on with the inquiry. The extraor-
divary statement just made by the Learned Lord com-
pletely altered• his•whole view of the case. .
Mr. W. COURTENAY would condidly say, that in
his opini ri, the inquiry ought to go on, and begged w