, 1865-04-18

ava
1t had interest for more than the parties
alone, and it comes then SO indirectly to
ones W knowledge, and in so scattered
a way 10 the hearing Of others that it has
lost its sting for the Court, or rather for
the Judge. Other cases have in the
meantime engrossed the interest of the
community, and, owing to the present
state of things in the Danish West India
Islands, perhaps the final issue of the
older case hardly ever comes to the
knowledge of all professional men. It
should certainly not surprise us, if even
the Upper Judge himself were many a
time left ignorant of the confirmation or
reversal OF his own sentence, not to speak
OF the grounds on which the Supreme
Court may have based its decision. But
the whole face of the case is changed
where a colleague, vested with equal au-
thority, forms the direct and immediate
control. The rough sketch of the sent
ence is not here exalted to a decree of
the Court without having passed through
another's critiCising examination. Not
only will ~indiSputable errors be avoided
hereby and a common bordering be in
duced whenever there is any divergence
Of opinion, but that Judge who, by turns
or without turns, has TO sketch the sent
ence will, on account of his being aware
thereof, proceed more carefully both in
regard to the examination 0f what &C.
cordlng to the ~pleadings of the parties
must be considered the basis Of facts to
which the Law is TO be applied, and in
respect to the exploring of the Law aud
the application thereof to the facts. As
ii stagnation would moreover lead to a
preponderance in favour of the one who
keeps pace with the spirit Of the times,
legislation and science, there lies in a
plurality Of members a great guarantee
that the single member will not rest sat-
isfed with his acquired store Of know
ledge, or regard it as an i~nexhaustibIe
fund from which a supply can ~eternally
be obtained. Comparing himself with
his colleagues, his attention will soon be
attracted to the place where o gap has
sprung up, and the injunction be not
weary IN the service of Minerva, which
is held up to view in the person of an
animated fellow Judge, is certainly more
stimulating than the admonition do not
lag behind, which may be conveyed to
the absolute Judge through a Supreme
Courts Judgment that comes to his view
merely in a written form and a long time
after his own ad Indication.
In addition to the aforementioned
shoals which most closely threaten The
competency and energy of the Court,
there are others on which its indepcnd-
ence will easily strand so long as the
office of Judge is vested in a single per-
SON. The s Goth of the Colonial Law
says Judges are in their calling only
to be guided by the laws" Herein is
given to understand that in the admins
tration of justice, Judges are to be
guided solely by what in their opinion
they consider the statues and laws of the
country. They are in consequence to
remain unin1uenced by the administra-
ton. But where the highest local ad-
ministrative authority and the highest
local judicial authority often meet face to
face, this independence, it must be own
ed, becomes a ~prerogative which the Up
per Judge who stands entirely isolated
will find it difficult to maintain. For, as
human nature is constituted, every hon
est lahourer in the vineyard will fain do